Pokemon: Ash and Ursula's Journey
by DeltaRaptor762
Summary: When Ash overhears his friends plans to betray him, he runs away with all of his pokemon. After a meeting with the Legendaries and meeting up with Ursula in Kanto, they decide to travel together and start becoming closer to each other. Three years later, they arrive to the Grand League of Champion Legends to win their biggest challenge. Takes place after B W TV series.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Hearing the words of others

It was near noon at the small Kanto region town known as Pallet Town. The Pidgey were chirping and the wind was blowing gracefully through the air. Its townsfolk were going about their daily lives. Working in the gardens, exploring the nearby forests, children playing with wild pokemon and a certain Professor Oak was in his ranch studying pokemon that belonged to trainers.

On a dirt road, leading to Pallet Town from Viridian Forest, was a very special trainer who had a unique Pikachu on his shoulder. His name was Ash Ketchum and he was just coming back from competing in the Unova League in the distant Unova region. His efforts had placed him in a high position in the Top 8 when his partner and best friend got beaten by the newly evolved Lucario that belonged to Ash's rival, Cameron. It was a devastating loss for Ash, but he was still happy with the progress that he made.

"I can't wait to see Mom, Professor Oak and our other pokemon friends. Can't you, buddy?", asked the fifteen year old trainer to his best friend.

"Pika Pikachu." replied Pikachu with a reason that he was happy was because he hoped Ash's mom had some ketchup he could snack on. After all, it is lunchtime.

"Yeah, buddy," said Ash, "I hope Mom made a big lunch. I'm getting pretty hungry after all this walking." Pikachu sweatdropped at this comment. As they walked down the dirt road and into Pallet Town, some of its residents greeted Ash and congratulated him for getting so far in the Unova League.

"Hey Ash. Congratulations on the league.", said a man in his mid-twenties who was working on his fence.

"Thanks, Terrence.", replied Ash.

The town had changed in some ways while the duo were away. The buildings were repainted in a new layer of white, more paddocks were built for gardens and there was even a new Pokemon Centre.

At last, they had arrived at their destination. Ash's house. It was a small two-story cottage with white walls and a seemingly new coloured roof. There was also a garden surrounding the house, blooming with beautiful flowers of every colour imaginable. Also with the exceptions of a new sprinkler system that was installed.

Ash slowly walked up to the front door of the house, wanting to surprise his mother the moment he got inside. She didn't know that he was coming home today, and that is why he wanted to give her the surprise of her life by showing up unexpectedly.

"Are you ready to go in and surprise Mom, Pikachu?", asked Ash with a cheery smile. He was clearly eager to see his beloved mother again after traveling for so long in a distant regions and to once again, taste her famous home cooking. He could only imagine the look on her face when she sees her son without warning.

But before he could grab and turn the handle on the front door, our famous duo heard a series of familiar voices coming from the inside of the house. Ash decided to get a better hearing of to who those voices belonged to by pressing the side of his left ear to the door. The voices seemed to be talking at the same time, but Ash was able to tell they were belonging to separate people

After about a minute of hearing and thinking, Ash was able to match the voices to their respective owners. They belonged to Ash's old traveling companions. Brock Slate, the former Gym leader of the Pewter City Gym. Misty Waterflower, the fourth Sensational Sister of her family and the Cerulean City Gym Leader. May Maple, a Pokemon Co-ordinater who came from the Hoenn region and the daughter of the Petalburg City Gym Leader, Norman Maple. Max Maple, younger brother of May and a future Pokemon Trainer who looked up to Ash as an idol in their traveling days. Dawn Berlitz, another co-ordinator who is from the Sinnoh region and the daughter of famed former co-ordinator, Johanna Berlitz. Iris, a girl who came from The Village of Dragons in the Unova region and a person who wants to become a Dragon Master. And lastly, Cilan. He was one of the three Gym Leaders of the Striaton Gym in the Unova region and also recognised as an A-class Pokemon Connoisseur. Ash couldn't understand how Iris and Cilan got to Pallet Town before he did or why they were even here, because they went their separate way for the Johto region. However he couldn't hear his mother's voice, so that meant that she probably wasn't home.

At first, Ash thought they were here to congratulate him. But when he listened closer to their conversation, they were saying things that were more…horrible and hurtful about him. They were having a talk that would change his life for both the better…and the worst.

"It's a surprise that Ash didn't win the Unova League and ended up in the Top 8 as usual,", said Misty with a sneer, "He always has to use Pikachu as his last pokemon to battle."

"Come to think of it, didn't he use that little rat in the last few league battles before losing the whole thing?" asked May in return.

"You couldn't have been more right,", said Dawn," even though he did defeat that Latios belonging to Tobias, he was still a complete idiot to have used Pikachu against powerhouses like those legendaries. He always thinks that friendship is the most important thing about pokemon, but he still doesn't get that power is the key to winning a battle."

Ash was listening to every word. Tears began to form in his eyes. Tears of anger, sadness and betrayal. Pikachu, on the other, hand was getting so angry when he was being called a rat and that they were talking about his best friend in such a horrible manner. He tried to hold back the urge to charge into the house and electrocuting them all to death.

"I used to look up to Ash as an idol," said the voice of Max, "but I have decided to look up to a new trainer like Tyson or Cameron. I seriously doubt that Ash will win any more leagues. Even if he redone the leagues he already attended, that loser will still lose to someone who will always be more skilled and strategical. I mean, his Unova team weren't even that well trained than his Sinnoh team."

"Even if he does become stronger somehow," piped up Iris, "he won't beat any of us because we will train harder than he ever will. After all, he is and always will be a little kid. His pokemon will also stay weak and pathetic."

This time it was Cilan's time to talk. "I agree. The only reason that I decided to travel with Ash on his journey was to figure what kind of battle recipes he would use in any match, but they all started to become quite dull and flavourless since he kept on using some of them over and over again. He has become somewhat of a dull-tasting trainer."

Nobody in the room understood what the green-haired gym leader just said, but they all agreed with it nonetheless.

"Ash is supposed to arrive soon," said Brock with a sneering smile, "so I suggest when he comes home, we tell him to give up and quit his dream of becoming a Pokemon Master. I mean, there's no way he will ever achieve something like that in a hundred years."

All the others smiled wickedly. "Also, we should stop being his friends since he's been holding us back from our dreams." added in May. "I used to see him as a mentor when I first began my journey, but now I see him more as a failure of a trainer."

"Then it's all agreed. We'll give a warm welcoming and them tell him what we think of him." said Dawn.

"YEAH", shouted all the others.

Unknown to them, the raven-haired trainer was crying and making no sound. Pikachu tried to comfort him, until his buddy began to walk away from the house and towards Professor Oak's lab. He couldn't believe that his now former friends would say such things about him.

Charizard's pokeball was trembling slightly, signalling that he want to come out and burn those traitors to the bone. But Ash simply told him not to worry, and the pokeball suddenly stopped shaking as if Charizard actually heard his trainer's words.

As they walked down the road, a shadow cast over Ash's face and with tears still fresh on the cheeks, while Pikachu's cheeks were still sparking with anger.

"Pika Pika Pika Pikapi." said to Ash while pointing his tiny yellow finger back at the house.

"Don't bother, pal," replied Ash in a sad tone, "they're not worth our time or effort. Besides, we could get arrested by the police if we attack with force." The mouse's cheeks stopped sparking and relaxed, but an angry face was still present on his face.

As they walked up the hill to the laboratory, Ash decided to speak up. "Lets just hope the other pokemon don't think the same way those…people do."

They looked back to see if any of those other kids were watching them, but luckily, none were.

xxxxx

But unknown to them, the certain eyes of an Axew and Buneary have been watching the duo making their way to the lab instead of the house. The two young pokemon had sad looks and tears in their eyes for the unsuspecting trainer and partner. They felt sorry for them because they think that Ash is not an awful trainer and Pikachu was like a big brother to them. In Buneary's case, significant other.

But for Axew, Scraggy was his best friend and sparring partner. If Ash heard what the others had said about him, it will mean that Ash will never come back. And that meant Axew would never see Scraggy again.

They also felt anger towards their own trainers for rudely criticizing Ash and his pokemon. The two pokemon wanted to help Ash somehow, but they didn't know what to do. Until Buneary had an idea that was good…and somewhat crazy. They both decided to start talking quietly so the humans would ay no attention to their conversation.

"_Axew, I an idea how we can be able to show Ash that not all of us agree that he is a bad trainer. And also a way I can be with cutie Pikachu._" said Buneary to Axew.

"_Ok, Buneary. What is it?" _asked the dragon pokemon with much curiousity and confusion on the last part.

"_I suggest that we both become Ash's pokemon."_ replied Buneary with determination.

This made Axew's eyes go wide with shock and surprise. "_Are you crazy Buneary?! We already belong to our current trainers and we belong to them, no matter how much we hate them. If they find out we are missing, they will look for us no matter how long it takes and find us eventually."_

"_Yes, Axew, but I don't want to stay with my traitor of a trainer anymore." _said Buneary, "_You see the only reason I decided to become Dawn's pokemon was because when I first laid eyes on Pikachu, it was love at first sight. If I didn't come along with Dawn, I would never see Pikachu again. And I soon started to participate in Pokemon Contests to get Pikachu's attention, which was kind of reality, I loved Pikachu more than I ever loved Dawn. But now that THIS has happened, I might never see my sweet Pikachu again. So I am willing to take my chances and join Ash and Pikachu. So I ask you this, Axew, would you do the same thing for Scraggy?"_

That question hit Axew right in the head. He couldn't believe that the rabbit pokemon would go through so much trouble just to be with her beloved. He thought on it for a few minutes. When Axew and Scraggy first met, things started off a bit rough. But soon they became the best of friends and sparring partners. Nothing could separate them. But when Iris referred to Ash's pokemon as weaklings, she also was talking about Scraggy and Axew knew that their friendship would be over. And if that got told to Scraggy, he would headbutt him to death the next time they met, maybe as a Scrafty.

"_Looks like you have a strong point there, Buneary. I have decided to go with your idea and join Ash, but I'm also doing this for my best friend Scraggy."_ said Axew with his final decision.

"_Nice choice. Now we have to figure out a way to get away from these horrible people and to Ash."_ said Buneary as they started to think. But that was soon interrupted when Dawn decided to butt in.

"Were you telling Axew about Pokemon Contests, Buneary, and what they are like?" asked Dawn to her rabbit. She received a nod a fake smile and some words that meant 'yes'.

"That's good, Buneary." replied Dawn.

"Hey everyone," called out Brock, "I'm gonna start making some food for us and the pokemon since lunchtime is beginning to pass. Iris, can you go get some berries from Viridian Forest, please? And if you see Ash, 'escort' him home." Brock ended that statement with an evil smile.

"Ok, Brock. Wanna come with me Axew?" asked Iris to her dragon. Axew shook his head in refusing. Iris then went out the door and into Viridian Forest.

"Brock, I think Max and I'll watch how you cook. It is very interesting." said May to Brock who nodded in response.

"I'll just be taking a nap on the couch if anyone needs me." said Dawn as she curled up on the couch and began to doze off.

Buneary and Axew couldn't believe their luck. The trainers were practically letting them go because their carelessness. They quietly took their respective pokeballs out of the bags of their trainers. They also managed to make the spheres minimize in size.

"_Ok, Axew. We have to go out the open window very quietly so no-one can hear us." _said Buneary.

"_Got it. Lets go_." replied Axew in a whisper.

They both jumped out of the window and landed on the grassy lawn with a small _thump._ They also took a few seconds in saying their final good-byes to the traitors. As they left the Ketchum residence, the two small pokemon began running at full speed towards the laboratory, each with a miniaturized pokeball in their hands.

'_Ash, Pikachu, Scraggy. Please don't leave without us'_ thought Axew.

xxxxx

As Ash entered the laboratory door, he was suddenly greeted by a happy smile of Professor Oak. "Ash, my boy," said the elderly man, in a happy manner "welcome back. I see you have finally come back from Unova. Your other pokemon, especially Bayleef, and I have been worrying that you wouldn't come home.

"It's good to see you too, Professor." replied Ash in a simple and low tone, showing his sadness. This both startled and concerned the professor upon hearing this.

"Ash, is there something wrong, my boy?" asked the professor in a calm voice.

"I don't want to talk about it. I just want to be alone right now." answered Ash as he walked past the man and through the back door and into the ranches. He saw all kinds of pokemon roaming free in the fields, some flying-types were sitting in trees, and some others were swimming in the river.

Suddenly, he heard a deep rumbling sound in the ground. He quickly turned to the source of it and saw a huge heard of Tauros stampeding towards him. Those were his thirty Tauros that he caught in the Kanto region. He quickly stepped out of the way as the heard of crazy bulls ran past him. He didn't want to be disturbed in his time of depression.

He then released his pokemon that he had in his pokeballs. Out came Snivy, Oshawatt, Pignite, Charizard and Scraggy. They all faced Ash, but when they did, they were confused by his sad face, except for Charizard.

"You guys can meet the others. I just want to be alone for a while." said Ash to his friends. He then walked towards the nearby empty river. He then set himself down on a wooden log as if it were a chair. The others were still confused by their friend's actions, but Pikachu knew something had to be done about this problem.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: A Great Family Reunion

Up in The Hall of Origins, the legendary pokemon of the world were looking down upon Ash in his time of sadness and heartbreak. These pokemon were The Titan Bird Trio, Mewtwo, Mew, The Beast Trio, Ho-oh, Lugia, Celebi, The Regi Trio, Latias, Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza, Jirachi, The Lake Trio, Manaphy, Phione, Dialga, Palkia, Regigigas, Giratina, Cressilia, Darkrai, Shaymin, The Swords of Justice, The Weather Trio, Reshiram, Zekrom, Kyurem, Meloetta, Victini and Arceus.

They had seen what The Chosen One's former friends said in such a vile manner, and to them, it was hardly believable. They always thought that his companions were always there to help Ash in his time of need, but it looks like they gave in to their own selfishness and arrogance. They all felt sorry for Ash, but some couldn't help thinking about how to kill the traitors. Except for Axew and Buneary.

"_How dare those humans belittle Ash in such a way! Have they no shame for their actions?" _roared out Terrakion_. _He was so infuriated at the traitors, he could skewer them with his horns without regret.

"_We ought to make them pay for their horrible remarks." _added in Cressilia_. _She was particularly angry at Dawn and Brock since they helped Ash save her from Team Rocket's trap. She used to think that they were good humans, but now she has a different opinion of them.

Manaphy was crying his heart out, because he couldn't believe what May had become. "_How could mama be so mean to papa?! He didn't do anything wrong to her, so why is she acting so… bad to him?!_"

'_I'm truly disappointed in those humans, but it looks like that Buneary and Axew have made the right choice in standing up for the young boy. Even if it means having to abandon their current owners.'_, thought Darkrai_._

Keldeo went over to the little one to comfort him. "_It's Ok, Manaphy. Ash didn't do anything to make her act this way."_ Manaphy stopped crying, but then he said something that would shatter May.

"_I HATE May! I want to be with papa again and find a new mama!", _shouted out Manaphy, but not loud enough for everyone to hear.

"_I thought I could trust the boy's friends when they saved my life, but now they are nothing more than abominations. And such human abominations must be destroyed for the greater good."_, said Mewtwo with anger in his voice.

"_The Hero of Ideals is a great individual who doesn't deserve liabilities like these…people."_, said Zekrom.

"_That's enough, everyone. There will be order in this meeting.",_ said Arceus in her mightiest voice. Immediately, everyone fell silent to their creator.

"_We are not here to decide whether to kill these people or not,", _spoke out the Alpha Pokemon,"_we are here to discuss on how we are to bring back The Chosen One into high spirits. If he loses all hope for his life, the entire world could be in serious danger. After all, he is the most important human to all pokemon kind."_

Everyone listened and didn't speak a word in opposition to their creator's opinion about the boy.

"_Over his years as a traveller and a trainer, he has put himself in death's way to save those important to him, human or pokemon. He showed no selfishness in his actions and always did the right thing no matter in what dangerous situation he was in with courage and with truth. He has the virtues of a hero. A hero who is worthy of our approval to become the Chosen One. He, not his former friends, he was the one who always saved us from evil humans and he deserves to hear our true gratefulness. I'm open to suggestions on how we can both enlighten him and thank him.", _finished off Arceus.

Reshiram spoke up first. _"Mother Arceus, might I suggest that the next time he dreams in his sleep, we are to appear in his dream. There, we can both thank him for his contributions and encourage him not to give up on his life or his dream."_

"_That is a splendid idea, Reshiram.", _said Arceus with a smile and then turned towards the others. "_Any more suggestions from anyone?"_

Giratina spoke up next. _"He will need a much larger team if he is to accomplish his goals. In his sleep, we should tell him to get more members for his group. In the meantime,_ _Mother, may I call upon the pokemon that he helped, released or befriended and tell them about the situation?", _finished the Renegade Pokemon.

"_That is also a great idea, and yes you may, my son.", _replied Arceus.

"_Arceus, I want to do something to make papa feel better, but I need your approval to do it.", _said Manaphy.

"_What is it that you need my approval for, young Manaphy_?", asked Arceus.

"_I wish to join papa on his journey. He means a lot to me._", replied Manaphy. This truly surprised everyone in the room because a legendary pokemon was _wanting _to join a human on his travels, but they understood it because Ash was like a father to Manphy and was willing to see him again.

"_You may, Manaphy, if that is what you wish_.", replied Arceus in a warm tone.

Suddenly, Giratina, Zekrom, Ho-oh, Lugia, Darkrai, Shaymin, Jirachi, Keldeo, Victini, Meloetta and Latias came forward, all with the same idea as Manaphy.

"_Mother_,", spoke Latias, "_I think I speak for everyone with me that we also want to join Ash on his journey. Not because we want revenge on those other children, but because we might have a strong bond with him and that because he is our best human friend.."_

"_Max used to be my best friend and Ash was the second human I trusted. But because of Max's negative actions, Ash is my new best friend and it would make me happy to be with him."_, added in Jirachi.

"_I really want to see the human world for what it really is. It is starting to get quite boring in the Reverse World.", said Giratina._

Arceus couldn't believe her eyes. A portion of her fellow legends were actually wanting to join on the Chosen One on his quest, but she was deeply concerned for their safety. There were, after all, humans like Team Rocket who want to take control of them.

"_Are you all sure about this decision? You do know you might have to battle with him and enter those little spheres.?", _asked Arceus with concern in her eyes.

Kyurem suddenly spoke up. "_Actually, I would like to go with the child as well. I really want to see the look on the face of that brown faced female human when she sees me again. I mean, she doesn't like ice-types and adores dragon-types, and I am of both."_

"_Don't worry, Mother,", _assured Zekrom, "_knowing the Hero of Ideals, he would never let anything happen to us or his fellow partners. As well as that, we are strong enough to take care of ourselves."_

"_Besides, I could use a good workout of battles after being at my village for so long and under overprotection.", _said Meloetta with a smile_._

"_Then it's settled. When we are to appear before him tonight, we will tell him what we will contribute to him, our plans to help him and to thank him for all of his generosity for the pokemon world_.", said Arceus_._

Xxxxx

Back at Oak's ranch, Pikachu has just finished explaining to Snivy, Oshawott, Pignite and Scraggy why Ash was very depressed and what his former friends said about him and his pokemon. They were all furious by the end of the story.

"_How could the say such nasty things about us when we even haven't done anything wrong?!"_ shouted out Pignite. His nose began spouting out weak embers of fire in his anger.

Snivy didn't look too pleased either. _"I knew I couldn't trust Iris and Cilan. They are basically Mightyena in Mareeps clothing."_

Charizard was enraged at Ash's 'friends' for calling him pathetic."_Oh, I'm pathetic, am I? We'll see what they have to say when they get a Flamethrower from me to them in the face." _

Suddenly, they heard two voices calling to them."_Guys, oh thank goodness. You haven't left yet." "Pikachu, I'm so glad your still here."_

The group turned to the left to see Buneary and Axew running towards them with a pokeball each in their hands.

The group growled at the two pokemon, but Charizard gave out a small roar to intimidate them. Pikachu only spoke to them with anger in his voice.

"_What are you two doing here? Aren't you meant to be with your trainers who hurt the feelings of my friend?", _Pikachu had sparks of electricity in his cheeks, ready to discharge at the wrong answer.

"_No, Pikachu. We want to come with you.", _replied Buneary with a bit of fear in her voice.

Pikachu was a bit surprised by this. "_Go with us where?"_

"_If you guys, Ash and the other pokemon are going to go somewhere to get away from the traitors and become better, please take us with you.", _replied Axew with a sad look on his face.

"_Why should be bother with you two? For all we know, you could have been sent here to lead the others to Ash so they could belittle him more. How can we even trust you?", _said Oshawott while raising an eyebrow.

"_Because_,", Buneary turned to Pikachu, _"Pikachu, the only reason I joined Dawn in the first place back in Sinnoh was so that I could be closer to your. But after I heard Dawn say mean things about you and Ash, I knew I had to disagree with her and you would run away and I wouldn't ever see you again. But if you are going, I don't have to be her pokemon anymore. I want to be Ash's. This is because… I love you, Pikachu, more than I ever loved Dawn."_

Pikachu was certainly taken aback by this. He always knew Buneary liked him as a friend, but he never knew she liked-liked him. Even though she confessed her feelings to him and ran away from Dawn, he just simply gave her a nod in response and understanding. He then turned to Axew.

"_What's your reason for wanting to join us, Axew?",_ asked Pikachu in a slightly angry tone.

Axew turned to Scraggy. _"Scraggy, you're my best friend and sparring partner. When Iris called you and the other pokemon pathetic, I knew she was referring to you and I didn't agree with her at all. I also think that Ash is a terrific trainer if he was able to defeat the Hydreigon belonging to Cameron. I don't want our friendship to be ruined because of what my trainer said, because if she thinks you're weak, then I am weak too. I want to be with you and Ash as long as we live so our friendship doesn't break. Because I know he will be a better teacher to me than Iris ever will." _

Scraggy was certainly surprised there. He and Axew were best friends, but Axew belonged to another trainer. And here he is now, wanting his approval to continue a great friendship and to have Ash as a trainer instead of Iris.

"_Guys, group huddle_." said Pikachu to his friends. They all bundled up together and began to whisper very quietly so that Buneary and Axew couldn't hear what they were saying. After a few minutes, the group broke up and faced the two. This time there were no faces of anger, but faces of unsatisfaction with their answers.

"_Ok, Buneary and Axew. If you truly want to stay with us, then you will have to prove to us that we can completely trust you again."_, said Pikachu.

But Buneary and Axew had just the plan for this. Buneary began to use Dizzy Punch on her own pokeball while Axew used Scratch on his own. Soon, both pokeballs were shattered and in pieces.

"_By destroying our own pokeballs, this means we are now catchable by anyone,", _said Axew. _"and we are officially no longer belonging to Iris and Dawn."_

"_Good enough for me."._ said Snivy. The rest of the group soon agreed with her. They then turned to Buneary and Axew with smiles on their faces.

"_Welcome to the team, guys_.", said Pikachu as he shook the hands of his new teammates. He then went up to Buneary and planted a kiss on her cheek. She soon had hearts and her eyes, a wide smile on her face and gave a great hug to the mouse.

"_Does this mean we're a couple, Pikachu?",_ asked Buneary eagerly.

"_Only after Ash finds out about this and when we leave.",_ replied Pikachu_. "Right now we have to gather the rest of the gang and tell them of what happened."_Buneary squealed in delight because she was finally going to be with her beloved after all this time.

xxxxx

Professor Oak was still in shock with Ash's downed attitude. Normally, he would be cheerful and energetic, but he was now as sad as his Torkoal when it cries. Something awful must have happened to him.

Suddenly, the door to the lab opened to reveal young brown haired woman with a basket of food with her faithful pokemon, Mr. Mime. This was Ash's mother, Delia Ketchum.

"Ah, Delia. What brings you here on this fine day?", asked the pokemon professor.

"Not much, Professor. I just wanted to say hi before going home to cook lunch for Ash and his friends.", replied Delia with a smile.

"Mime Mime.", added in Mr. Mime.

"That's funny Delia, because Ash is out in the ranch right now. But there is something that concerns me about the young man.", said Professor Oak in a sad tone.

"What do you mean, Samuel? Did something happen to him? Is my son alright?", asked the woman with much concern in her voice.

"I asked him what was bothering him, but he didn't want to talk and just wanted to be left alone. And I think he seemed to be crying when I took a look at him.", said Professor Oak.

Delia gasped. Her son? Crying? She had almost never seen him cry nowadays, but something must have happened that broke his heart. She had to find out what had happened to her fragile son. Mr. Mime was both confused and saddened.

"I think we should go talk to him, Professor. If something did happen to him, I want to find out what it was so I could make him feel better. It has been a very long time since Ash has cried before and I never thought he would now.", said Delia.

Samuel nodded before the three of them went through the door to the ranches and began to look for Pallet Town's favourite trainer.

xxxxx

In the meantime, Pikachu and the others had finally got the entire gang back together. Pikachu had found Bulbasaur earlier and asked him to make a signal as a call to the others. Bulbasaur used Solarbeam to make a flare in the sky as a signal. In less than a minute Muk, Kingler, Snorlax, the herd of 30 Tauros, Bayleef, Quilava, Totodile, Noctowl, Heracross, Donphan, Sceptile, Swellow, Torkoal, Corphish, Glalie, Torterra, Infernape, Staraptor, Buizel, Gible, Gliscor, Unfezeant, Boldore, Palpitoad, Leavanny and Krookodile showed up. They were all eager to see their trainer and best friend again, but to their surprise, he wasn't with the others. They also noticed Axew and Buneary were with them, which left some wondering why they are here and not with Dawn or Iris.

"_So you're finally back form the Unova region, huh Pikachu.", _stated Heracross_. "Can you tell me what happened to you and Ash while you were there, please?"_

"_Hey, I'm surprised you're here, Charizard. I thought you were at the Charicific Valley for training_.", said Sceptile to Charizard with a look of interest in his eyes.

Gliscor just looked at Buneary and Axew with confusion." What are you doing here Buneary, and where's Dawn?". Then he faced Axew, "And what kind of pokemon are you supposed to be?"

"This is Axew. He's a pokemon form the Unova region,", answered Buneary,"and as for your question, Axew and I have decided to join your team."

The reunion of pokemon went on for a few minutes. The pokemon from Unova were introducing themselves to the ones from the other regions that Ash had travelled to. Oshawott instantly fell for Bayleef, but was soon dejected when she said she liked Ash more.

"Everyone!", Pikachu finally called out, "the reason that you have been called for a gathering was not only just to tell we are back or that to tell Buneary and Axew have joined us, but it's because we have a problem on our hands."

"What kind of problem, Pikachu? Has Team Rocket been bothering you again?", asked Donphan.

"Well, yes, but that is not the reason. The reason is…"

For about ten minutes, Pikachu went on explaining to everyone what had happened when they got back to Pallet Town. How they over heard their former friend's evil words, how Ash ended up wanting to be alone, and why Buneary and Axew have joined them. This was something no-one could believe. Gliscor was snapping his pincers in anger, Bayleef was crying, Infernape looked like he would activate Blaze from pure rage and the others were either shocked or very annoyed.

"How could they say such bad things about my Ashy? Why would they do this?", asked Bayleef, still teary eyed.

"We'll worry about that later. Right now, we need to make Ash feel better. He's like a father and brother to us.", said Corphish.

"He went down to the nearby river. We can find him there.", said Snivy.

Bayleef already took off running. "Then what are we waiting for, everyone? Lets go!", shouted out Bayleef.

Soon, everyone went running, flying and hopping to the river in search of their beloved friend and trainer.

xxxxx

Professor Oak, Delia and Mimey have been looking all over the ranch, when they suddenly saw a large group of pokemon heading towards the river in a huge rush.

"Hey, those are all of Ash's pokemon! And where did that Buneary and Axew come from?", exclaimed Professor Oak.

"Do you think they found Ash, Samuel?", asked Delia.

"We can only find out if we follow them to find out. And it seems that they are heading for the river.", said Professor Oak. They then began to follow the heard of pokemon to the river. When they all got there, they all saw Ash still sitting on the log with his wands on his face.

And it looked like he was crying harder than any one had ever seen.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Happy Comforts

"Why would my friends do this to me?! Why?! I never did anything to them that would hurt them, so why did they have to hurt me?", sobbed Ash to himself.

As he looked into the river, he saw a reflection of himself. But it wasn't him. It was the picture as a complete failure. It was true. He never seemed to win anything important apart from Orange Island League and the Kanto Battle Frontier. He always wanted to win a regional league, but just when his victory was only a grasp away, it had to be taken away by his own stupidity in battles.

"Maybe they are right. Maybe I should give up my dream of becoming a Pokemon Master. Because now that I think about it, it's impossible to achieve such a huge goal.", said Ash to himself in a low, sorrowful voice.

"Don't you ever say that, Ash Ketchum! Don't you ever say that in front of ME!", said a voice behind Ash. He turned around and was surprised to see Professor Oak, his mother, Mr. Mime and the rest of his pokemon.

Professor Oak and Delia both went up to Ash and sat next to him. His pokemon all followed and sat around him. They, even Charizard, all had tears in their eyes. They couldn't believe that their great trainer would begin to give up on himself and his dream just because some bratty kids said mean things about him that were not true at all. Torkoal was crying up a river because of his soft nature.

Delia faced Ash with a look of worry on her face for her son. "Ash, I want you to tell me and Professor Oak what had happened and why you are acting like this. Go from start to finish and don't leave out a single detail. Understand, young man?".

Ash turned to face his pokemon. They all nodded to Delia's request and showed Ash that she needed to know what happened to him so she could understand. They all sat down on the ground around them, not wanting to leave him. Even the herd of Tauros settled down even though there were masters of stampeding.

With that, the raven haired trainer began to talk, but in a strong clear voice instead of one that sounded dead. He told them how he heard them saying rude things about him, how they were going to tell him to give up, how he felt to that and why he wanted to be by himself to think this over.

By the time he was done, both of the adults were shocked at his story, but the pokemon were now more angry instead of tearful for hearing the story a second time.

Professor Oak always thought that Ash's friends would be with him no matter what since he was always there to support them and they supported him. He knew that May and Dawn looked up at to Ash like their older brother and mentor because he helped them start on their journeys, but he guessed that they were so full of themselves nowadays that they no longer need him. Even as a friend. He also knew Brock was most long- lasting friend because he travelled with Ash for the longest above all others. Now he wanted to get rid of Ash; probably because he was getting more attention from so many girls and that was starting to affect his love life.

Delia was feeling great rage for his former friends. She had met them all when they came today to congratulate Ash. She thought that they all nice people who knew Ash as not only a valuable member to their group, but also as the one who kept them on their feet towards their own dreams. She could only imagine what they had said about Ash.

"Ash, just because they want you to give up doesn't mean you have to. I may not know them that well, but I know you far to well and I know you'll never, ever give up on your dream to become a Pokemon Master.", said Delia softly to Ash.

"Ash, my boy. I want to tell you something important that I think you ought to know. This is something that I told all the other trainers who left Pallet Town on their journeys before you and Gary.", said Professor Oak

"Ok, Professor. What is it?", asked Ash, who was now wiping tears from his cheeks.

"You see, your journey is about you and achieving your dream. It isn't about others and their dreams. They'll just start holding you back to make you help them achieve their goals. And from you've been telling us, it sounds like another reason that the others have abandoned you is because they think you are starting to drag them down.", said Professor Oak.

Ash looked at him with confusion. "Do you think that's true to you, Professor?"

"Absolutely not, my boy,", responded to man, "if anything, it's them holding you back, not vice versa."

"He's right, Ash,", agreed Delia," because when they journeyed with you, its somehow seemed to me that they always cut into your training time so you could help them. So I think that you are much better than all of them combined when it comes to battling right and treating your pokemon with plenty of love."

Ash was starting to feel something. Their words were breaking into him and beginning heal him on the inside, but he was still feeling a little bit uneasy. Then he just remembered something.

"Professor Oak?", said Ash.

"Yes, Ash?", replied Professor Oak.

"Do you think that Gary is in on this, too?", asked Ash. He was beginning to wonder if his best friend from childhood and arch rival was siding with the traitors.

Professor Oak looked at him with surprise. "No, Ash, he isn't. In fact, he called me at the lab just a few days ago from the Sinnoh region. He told me that when you come home, he told me to tell you that he was impressed by your placement in the Unova League and asked me to congratulate you for him. So…congratulations, Ash!"

Ash smiled. When Gary was his rival back during his Kanto journeys, he would always boast about how he was going to be the greatest Pokemon Master to have ever left Pallet Town. He always treated Ash like an inferior, but when he lost at the Kanto League before Ash did, he must have changed for the better and began to treat Ash like his best friend just like in the childhood days. But after he said that he was going to become a researcher instead of a trainer, that practically meant that the rivalry between the two could end and the friendship could continue to live on.

Ash was starting to feel better about himself now, but there was still one more thing that he was quite unsure about. And that was his abilities as a trainer. He didn't know what to think of himself, so he was going to ask for the opinions of his family and pokemon.

Thank you, everyone. I'm starting to feel like myself again, but I still need your opinions on something.", said Ash.

"Of course, Ash. What do you need our opinion on?", asked Delia.

Ash took a deep breath. And then he spoke clearly. "Do you think that I'm a good trainer to you all, even after…what they said?"

The group was shocked. They all thought he was an extraordinary trainer. One that was full of spirit, energy and the guts to continue even at a devastating loss. He showed he was one to never give up under any circumstance by wanting to challenge the league in every new region he travelled in. But here he was now, asking his pokemon and family if he was still worthy of being their trainer.

"Of course you are, my boy." said Professor Oak, "As a matter of fact, you are the pride of Pallet Town. After the Pokemon Centre here was established, a lot more visitors, tourists and trainers have been coming to see the home of our most famous trainer of this generation. My laboratory has also been a great hit, but mostly because children want to see your pokemon. They admire you as their idol. It would be a shame you were to quit now. I'm sure you don't want to let down your fans, do you Ash?"

"I don't at all, Professor!", said Ash, who seemed now to be in more cheerful spirits.

"Ash, no matter what happens, you'll be the greatest trainer in my heart any day.", said a happy-looking Delia, "Your father would be very proud of you no matter what if he was with us right now.

The pokemon began to cheer. They were all very joyous to see their old trainer back to his old self again. Some even went up to him to show their happiness. Gible and Totodile latched to both sides of his head, Bayleef nuzzled against him and Sceotile decided to give him a pat on the back. Torkoal was crying tears of happiness.

"Thanks, you guys.", replied Ash happily. "Hey, Corphish, can you do me a favour?"

"Corphish?", said Corphish.

Ash pulled out two items from his pockets. They were a fishing lure that he had received from Misty and half of the Terracotta Medal that he had won during a contest with May.

"Can you please use Crabhammer to pulverise these things? They bring back bad memories."

Corhish obeyed his trainer, knowing there were no good memories in those objects. One of his pincers glowed white and hit the ground where the items were. When he lifted his pincer, the lure was snapped in two and the medal was broken into three pieces. The ribbon parts were also torn.

Ash thanked Corphish for the favour. He was about to throw the remenants of them into the river, but his mom spoke up.

"Actually, Ash could I have those? I might need them." Ash gave her the pieces, which she put into a small bag. He was still confused at why should would want that…trash.

Suddenly, Ash saw the two new comers within the crowd. At first he seemed a little bit agitated to see Axew and Buneary because they belonged to two of the traitors, but then something told him that the two pokemon were on his side.

"Axew? Buneary? What are you two doing here?", asked Ash. Gible and Totodile let go of his head and landed on the ground.

"Bun Buneary Bun Eary.", said Buneary while making hand gestures to herself, Axew and Ash.

"If I'm not mistaken, I think you just said that you don't agree with the traitors about me being weak. Am I right?", said Ash. He was starting to know where this was all going.

She nodded. Pikachu began to talk to Ash, even though he could only understand a small amount of what the mouse actually said.

"Are you saying that they want to join our team, Pikachu? But they still belong to Iris and Dawn.", said Ash with a bit of confusion on his mind. Pikachu nodded.

"Pika Pika Pikachu.", exclaimed Pikachu while pointing back at the ranch. He then took off in a sprint. Ash got the idea that Pikachu wanted him to follow.

"Come on, guys. I think he wants to show us something.", Ash said to the others. They all went in the direction Pikachu took off to and soon stopped where Pikachu was waiting.

"Pika Pikapi", said Pikachu while pointing on the ground in front of him. Ash could see the remenants of what had been Buneary's and Axew's pokeballs. All of a sudden, Ash understood the whole thing.

"Did you two break your own pokeballs just so you can join not only me, but Scraggy and Pikachu too?!", asked Ash to Axew and Buneary. They both nodded.

"Well then welcome to the team, you two.", said Ash while shaking hands with the two new recruits. Buneary then hopped over to Pikachu and hugged him, overjoyed that they would a couple soon and forever.

"I guess I can understand that they value you in some ways more than they did with their previous owners, Ash.", said the professor to the trainer.

"Yes, Samuel. I'm just glad that some didn't think of him negatively.", added Delia as she bent downto pet Buneary and Axew. They liked that a lot.

Just then, something really big stomped up right behind them and cast a shadow upon them all. Everyone turned around only to have a gigantic Tentacruel robot stare back at them. A hatch on top of it wit ha big red 'R' opened up to reveal the attackers, Team Rocket. But right where James was supposed to be was a different person with short orange hair and sunglasses.

"Prepare for trouble and for a fight."

"Make it double and-"

"TEAM ROCKET", exclaimed Ash. The pokemon got ready in battle stance and growled. Delia, however, was dumbfounded.

"Ash, who's Team Rocket?", asked his mother with a bit of fear in her voice.

"Mom, they are an evil organisation who steal other people's pokemon and use them for evil purposes.", replies Ash while still facing his archenemies.

"Hey! We didn't get to finish our new motto, twerp. Don't you know it's rude to interrupt other people when they are talking?", shouted out Jessie in rage. Her face was beginning to go a light tinge of pink at this.

"Don't you dare call my son a twerp, you preposterous old witch!", yelled back Delia in frustration that someone insulted her son. The pokemon were not happy at this either and their growls just turned into roars.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!", screamed Jessie when she heard that. Her face was so blood red, it matched her hair colour and she looked like a tamato berry.

"Come on, Jessie. We have to stay focused on the mission here or the boss will surely be angry with us.", said the new person.

"Where's James?", asked Ash, who seemed to be losing his cool.

"He decided to ditch us and go on his own journey,", said Meowth, "so the boss recruited Kaleb here to be our new teammate."

Ash was actually surprised. He always thought that James wasn't meant for Team Rocket because of his distraction to 'vintage' bottle caps and his childish nature. Not to mention that he made some truces with him and his friends, such as the time at his Nanny and Pop Pop's summer cottage. Ash was finally glad that James decided to make something of himself and prove that he can actually be somebody instead of a criminal who barely pays attention. This new Kaleb guy sounded like he wasn't going to be any smarter than James was.

Meowth continued. "But enough chitter-chatter. With our new Tentacruelbot Mark Four, your pokemon will soon belong to the boss and we will be his best agents in the entire organization, twerp."

"_Like that's ever going to happen, you pathetic excuse of a furball. We'll just defeat you and destroy your silly contraptions, again and again.", _said Sceptile_._

"_Yeah!", _said Gible while licking his lips_. "How about I'll just eat it again like the last two times?"_

Meowth was hit hard by the insult."You are going to regret saying that, you big lizard."

As the trio re-entered the cockpit of the robot, the tips of the tentacles opened up to reveal claws. Two of the claws suddenly tried to grab Pikachu and Snivy, but they both dodged their fates. They other claws looked ready to grab the other pokemon

"That's enough. Everyone, how about we give them a good blasting off with one huge combination attack?", said Ash to his pokemon team. The pokemon nodded and roared at the robot jellyfish. Then they launched their own special attacks varying from Pikachu's Thunderbolt to Corphish's Bubblebeam to Krookodile's Stone Edge. Even Buneary and Axew helped by adding in Ice Beam and Dragon Rage.

As the attacks came closer, they all merged into a huge ball of hot fire surrounded by streaks of coloured lines of the other attacks. When it collided, a huge explosion occurred that completely destroyed the robot and sent the trio of rockets flying into the sky.

"Hm, so this is what it feels when you guys lose to that boy.", said Kaleb calmly to the others as if he didn't even care what just happened.

"I was sure that the big robot was the key to putting the twerp in his place and us on top of the Team Rocket rankings.", pouted Jessie.

"Well the only thing this situation unlocked for us is a big punishment from the boss when he finds out about this.", said Meowth.

"AND IT LOOKS LIKE WE'RE BLASTING OFF AGAIN", yelled out the three as they disappeared into the sky with a twinkle.

When the smoke cleared , Ash his pokemon cheered for another victory against Team Rocket. Delia and Samuel just watched at how Ash was acting like himself again, knowing that they won't be seeing a gloomy face from him for a while.

xxxxx

After the traitors heard the explosion from Professor Oak's laboratory they all raced outside the Ketchum residence to see what had happened, but the smoke from the robot's explosion had already cleared. This left them all very confused.

"What was that?", asked a shocked looking Iris.

"Maybe that was just Gible trying to scare Ash's other pokemon with his Draco Meteor."said Brock as he was washing dishes from the lunch they all just ate.

"Ash has a Gible?", asked Cilan.

"Yeah, but a dumb one.", replied Brock with a sneer, remembering that . Then Dawn came into the kitchen in a hurry.

"Has anyone seen Buneary? I haven't seen her since my nap and I can't find her anywhere.", said Dawn.

"Come to think of it, I haven't seen Axew since I went to Viridian Forest to get some berries.", said Iris with a worried expression on her face for her little dragon.

"And where on earth is Ash?", groaned out Max. "It is already two o'clock and he was supposed to be here at noon." He was really starting to get impatient.

"Well, Iris and I are going out to look for Axew and Buneary.", said Dawn to the others. "We'll be back in a little while. Besides, if Ash is so late, he's probably being chased away by Beedrill."

Xxxxx

"You know, Ash,", said Delia to her son, "now that Team Rocket is gone and you look like you're back to normal, why don't we have a celebration?"

"That's a great idea, Mom.", said Ash, "What did you have in mind?"

"Why don't we have dinner back at home? You can bring all the pokemon over and we can eat outside under the stars tonight as a family?", replied his mom with her idea.

"But the traitors are back home. What do we do about them?", asked Ash, suddenly remembering the people who abandoned him. His mom chuckled.

"Don't wory about them.", said Delia and turned to Mr. Mime, "Leave that to me. Come on, Mimey. Lets go home and 'prepare' for dinner." They both headed home and with mischievious grins on their faces.

That only left Ash, Professor Oak and the pokemon gang.

"Say, Ash?", said Professor oak.

"Yeah, Professor Oak?", replied Ash.

Professor Oak continued. "Since you are back to your old self, and you still want to achieve your dream, I'll bet you'll be getting ready to go on another adventure soon. Correct, am I not."

"That's right, Professor Oak.", said Ash with his classic smile. "During dinner tonight, I'll tell everyone my new plans for my new journey."

All of Ash's pokemon were all eager to find out about the journey so they could go too, but it looks like they'll have to wait until dinner tonight.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Gonna Start All Over Again

"Arrghh!", moaned out May. "What is taking Ash so long? He should have been back by now."

"Yeah,", agreed Max, "I'm getting tired of waiting. Why don't we just go already if he is going to be so late? Then we can say what we want to him the next time we meet again."

"No way, Max,", said Misty in response, "because by then we won't be altogether as a group and it won't be enough to get to Ash if we are separate."

Dawn and Iris, on the other hand, were still looking for Axew and Buneary and didn't find them. They had absolutely no idea that their own pokemon had be left their trainers for the one the trainers betrayed.

"If I don't find Axew soon, Elder isn't going to be very pleased with me. I mean, she was the one who gave me Axew.", said Iris in worry.

"Uuughhhh, this is hopeless.", groaned out Dawn. "We searched for those two all over town the meadows and the garden. If I don't find Buneary, I'll have to dismiss the offer for her modelling career."

Just then, the door to the house opened to reveal Mrs. Ketchum and Mr. Mime. They both had frowny faces that were looking to the ground, but that was all part of the act to get the traitors out from her home.

"Hello, Mrs. Ketchum. Good to see you are back in fine shape.", said Cilan in his gentleman's voice.

Delia didn't respond. She just kept looking to the ground with Mr. Mime.

"Mrs. Ketchum, did something happen?", asked Max, "because you don't seem all that fine too me." Again Delia didn't respond.

"Mrs. Ketchum, have you seen Axew and Buneary anywhere on your way here by any chance?, asked Iris, "We can't seem to find them and we are worried sick."

Delia's head went up to reveal a really angry face looking at the traitors.. The kids all were surprised by this because they had never seen Ash's mother look so angry before.

"Mr. Mime, use Psychic on them all!", called out Delia to her pokemon. Mr. Mime's eyes started to glow a light blue colour as it focused its power into its attack. The kids were first surrounded by the blue glow and then began to float into the air. They were all very shocked with surprise. Their bags and belongings were also floating next to them.

"Mrs. Ketchum, what do you think you're doing?! Why are you doing this to us?", asked Misty in fury. She was really beginning to lose it.

Yeah, we didn't do anything wrong to you.", said May.

"Now, Mr. Mime, toss out the trash.", instructed Delia to the psychic-type. She quickly opened the the door as Mr. Mime used his psychic energies to throw them all out of the door. Soon, they all landed with a huge _thud _on the dirt road and their bags got dumped near them or on their heads.

"And take this with you, you little brats.", shouted out Delia as she threw a small sack at them . It hit Max's head.

"OUCH,"screamed Max in pain, "that really hurt, you know, and what is the big idea of throwing us out of your house?!" He didn't get a response because Delia entered the house and the door closed with a huge _slam_.

"What the heck is that woman's problem?! Why did she throw us out like that?", exclaimed Dawn. She wasn't happy since her clothes were covered in dust.

"I don't know, but she did throw this little sack out too.", said May as she picked up the little sack, opened it and let all its contents spill out. What came out were two broken halves of a fishing lure and three pieces of half a medal.

"Hey, isn't that the lure that I gave Ash a while back?", said Misty as she examined pieces of her lure.

"And didn't this used to be the other half of the Terracotta Medal that Ash won when he and I entered in a contest a few years back?", added in May as she took a look at the now destroyed medal half.

Suddenly, Iris spoke up. "I remember seeing those object in Ash's backpack while we were journeying in the Unova region."

"What's your point Iris?", asked Brock, a little bit confused.

"If those items are here, then Ash must be back in town too.", said Iris. "And that means we can go tell him what we want to tell him."

"Actually I don't think we have to, Iris.", said Cilan. "If Ash broke those items, then that must mean that he somehow knows what we were going to tell him. And he must now hate May and Misty because the medal and lure reminded him of them."

May and Misty were not surprised by this action since it would be obvious to them that Ash would want to get rid of items that he no longer treasured because of what they said about him. May had also decided to get rid of her half of the medal just because it reminded her too much of how much Ash was a loser in her opinion.

"Well, since our work in Pallet Town is 'kind of' complete, what should we do now? I mean, we all have our own dreams to achieve.", said Brock.

"I think what we should do is keep on looking for Axew and Buneary altogether.", stated Dawn with an annoyed look on her face, " The only place that we haven't searched yet is Viridian Forest. Since we are still together at the moment, we should all split up to cover more ground."

"But what if we don't find those two, then what do we do? I mean, we can't search for them forever. I have a life, you know.", asked May.

This silenced Dawn and Iris. Dawn's Buneary was chosen to be in a fashion model magazine in Sinnoh and if she was to tell her offerers that Buneary couldn't attend because she was missing, this could mean big trouble for Dawn and her future. Johanna might also have a say in this and give Dawn a long motherly lecture about pokemon care.

Iris' Axew was personally given to her by Elder of The Village of Dragons and she promised to take care of him no matter what path she chose. Iris could only start to imagine what Elder would say to her when she finds out Axew has gone missing. She might even not be allow to return to The Village of Dragons as a permanent punishment. If Iris were to give up looking for Axew, this could affect and ruin her dream of becoming a Dragon Master. This also meant the Georgia has a strong chance of finally becoming an expert Dragon Buster and defeat Iris.

"If we can't find them by morning tomorrow, we have to give up the look completely. No matter how much their diasappearance will affect you two", said Max.

Dawn and Iris both nodded sadly with their heads down. and tears were starting to appear in their eyes. This could be their last chance to find their beloved pokemon before giving up completely. But what they didn't know was that when they finally discover why Axew and Buneary disappeared, the result will leave them broken and shattered. Almost permanently.

But unknown to Brock, in one of his shrunken pokeballs, a certain Croagunk was thinking things over about what had happened earlier today. He also thought that Ash was a great trainer and also wanted to go with him, but he had to stay with Brock to make sure he doesn't flirt with anymore girls.

'_I'm sorry I couldn't join you, Ash_,' thought Croagunk, _' but to show you that I am on your side, I'll make sure Brock never gets a girlfriend.'_

The group of traitors then walked into the forest and vanished into its thickness.

Xxxxx

Back at the Ketchum residence, as soon as Delia saw that the traitors were out of sight, she gave a big cheer and high-fived Mr. Mime, who also joined her.

"Alright, now that they are out of the way, it's about time I started to prepare the special dinner for the whole family.", said Delia as she started to empty out her shopping basket and laying out all the groceries on the benchtop of her kitchen. Mr. Mime was taking out all the required utensils to cook the meal for tonight's dinner.

"It's going to be so nice to have a nice dinner altogether,", said Delia as she started to chop up some peeled potatoes, " it has been a long day for Ash, but I'm sure nothing like a good dinner would fix him right up. I am going to make his favourite dishes after all. Wouldn't you agree, Mimey?"

"Mime Mr. Mime.", replied Mr. Mime with a smile as he begen to use Psychic on some a grater which began to grate some cheese all by itself.

And for some strange reason, Delia couldn't help wonder if this betrayal would change things for the better for Ash. She was going to find out soon enough.

Then she heard the front door open and close, showing that someone had just come in. She heard the voice of her favourite son.

"Hey, Mom, I'm here. How did you get the others to leave in such a short time?", called out Ash. Delia turned around to see her son with Pikachu on his shoulder

"Oh, lets just say with Mimey's Psychic, we easily threw out the trash.", said out Delia with a big chuckle. Ash and Pikachu both started to laugh at this, getting the joke.

"Why don't you go get washed up? It has been a long journey for you in the Unova region, so I think the most appropriate thing for you to do right now is to go get yourself cleaned up. We can have dinner with a smelly trainer, young man.", said Delia.

Pikachu got a big laugh out of this while Ash just sweatdropped in embarrassment. "Ok, Mom. Also the other pokemon are in the back garden. I hope you don't mind that they are there until tonight.", said Ash.

"Of course I don't mind, Ash. Just as long as they don't mess anything up out there.", replied Delia. She looked out the kitchen window and into the garden to check up. The pokemon were all comfortably relaxed and were talking to each other, but the herd of Tauros were all running around the meadows outside of the garden's fence.

"Don't worry, Mom. I already told them that.", said Ash as he walked up the stairs that lead directly to his bedroom.

His bedroom was just as he remembered it when he left for Unova. All neat and tidy, with the exception of some dust that was on his desk, which he took the pleasure of wiping it of fhith his hand. He began to empty out his backpack. He took out his sleeping bag, some spare unused clothing, his miniature case of Unova gym badges and certificate that he got for coming in the Top 8 in the Unova League. There was also his small keyring of Alder that he received after the Junior Cup Tournament he attended. He decided to put the badges with his other trophies and awards he received over his travels on his dresser.

If anyone saw his awards, they would be impressed. There was the certificate that he received when he ended up in the Top 16 in the Kanto League, the trophy for defeating the Orange League Champion Drake, the trophy for winning at a racing contest he participated with Bayleef in Johto, the certificate for coming in the Top 8 in the Johto League, the certificate for coming in the Top 8 in the Hoenn League, the certificate for coming in the Final 4 in the Sinnoh League, a Focus band he won in participating in a wrestling tournament with Pignite, and a full set of gym badges from every region.

Ash smiled. All of those awards were, to him, a sign that he is getting one step closer every time to achieve his dream. Even without any traveling companions, he'll go for the dream no matter what. Even if it takes decades.

"Well, Pikachu, I'm gonna have a shower and clean up. How about you go see what the others are up to?", said Ash to Pikachu, who was sitting on the bad.

"Pika Pika.", said Pikachu as jumped from the bed and began to fun on all for fours downstairs to the back garden. When he got there, was greeted by Buneary and Snivy.

"_This 'Kanto' region looks like one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. I just hope well be able to travel here for a while so the Unova pokemon can get a feel what it's like to be here. Kinda reminds me of home.",_ said Snivy as she sniffed the air. To her it smelled like nature couldn't offer anything better.

"_I agree. This new region looks like a lot of fun. I also hope we can visit Ambipom since Vermillion City is in Kanto, if I'm not mistaken.",_ said Buneary.

"_Say, Buneary? How were your adventures in the Hoenn region when you were traveling with Dawn_.", asked Pikachu.

Buneary flinched at the name of her old trainer, but still answered her question. "_We had a great time traveling in Hoenn since it was home to Pokemon Contests. We managed to get to the Grand Festival, but we got totally defeated by Nando."_

Pikachu still remembered the harp-playing trainer and co-ordinator. He met Ash and company while they were traveling in Sinnoh. They helped him to make a decision on whether he would do contests or gym battles, and he decided to do both.

"_But then we went to the Johto region to participate in the Wallace Cup that was being held there. We made it to the finals, but we were also defeated by Ursula.",_ continued Buneary.

Pikachu couldn't remember much about Ursula, except for the fact that she continuously called Dawn by her nickname 'Dee Dee'. She wasn't very nice to Dawn in particular, but she didn't seem so bad towards Ash.

When the trio got to the rest of the gang, Pikachu and the Unova team began to tell the other pokemon about their Unova adventures. They included the times when they stopped Team Rocket from gaining control over the Weather Trio, when they stopped Team Plasma from controlling Reshiram, and how they met Victini and Zekrom up close.

Everyone was amazed at they adventures they had and Buneary almost fell into tears when she heard the part where Pikachu was almost completely taken control of by Team Plasma's machine. But Pikachu assured her it won't ever happen again.

xxxxx

When Night fell, the back garden of the Ketchum residence was a sight to behold. It was the perfect scene of a dinner by candlelight. Torches on poles were lit and were placed into the earth around the dinner table. The round dinner table itself was big enough to sit four, but it was only meant for three. There was a clean white table cloth spread on it and it was all set up with glasses, knives, forks, spoons, plates and some candles in the middle added the finishing touch. Nearby, there were food bowls for the pokemon, ready to be filled.

Earlier today, Ash decided to help his mother in preparation with foods and he actually did a pretty good jobs. There were no mishaps like burnt foods, spilt milk or even finger cuts. His mom really appreciated it and she said he could be a great chef one day. Also, Professor Oak needed some help in bringing in a large cart of pokemon food for all of Ash's pokemon to his house, so Ash helped out with that as well. Professor Oak then told Ash he had to go back to his laboratory to handle a few more things, but he really had another surprise Ash, one which he didn't know about.

"Honey, can you please take the creamed potatoes and salad outside, please? I need to take the fried rice off the stove and the roast potatoes out of the oven.", called out Delia.

"Sure thing, Mom.", said Ash as he grabbed the platters containing the salad and creamed potatoes. He took a whiff of the delicious food and was starting to lick his lips in hunger, but he knew better so he took out the food into the garden and put it on the table.

As he went inside, the doorbell rang.

"Ash, could you go get the door?", asked Delia.

"Ok, Mom.", said Ash and went to the front door. When he opened it, he swas greeted by Professor Oak in a zip-up jumper instead of his usual lab coat and he had a wrapped up box in his hands.

"Good to see you, Professor. What's in the box?", asked Ash with curiosity in his mind.

"You'll see soon enough, my boy. It's a little something that came in for you a while ago.", said Professor Oak. Ash sighed in disappointment. They both walked through the house and into the garden. Professor Oak was shocked to see the garden so well set up. For him, it was like waking into a very fancy restaurant.

"My word, Ash. This is certainly one of the greatest dinner surprises I have had in a while.", said Professor Oak as he was looking the table and to find it even more surprising that it was set up so professionally.

"Yep. I helped Mom with all the preparations.", said Ash with a grin.

Just then, Delia and Mr. Mime came out with some more platters of food in their hands that they set down on the table. The fried rice looked really appetising and the roast potatoes looked out of this world. Delia went back inside again and came out with a chicken and beef meatloaf in her hands.

"My, my, Delia. You and Ash have certainly outdone yourselves this time.", said Professor Oak as she set down the dish.

"I'll quickly go finish filling up the food bowls for the pokemon.", said Ash as he ran off to his pokemons' dishes.

When he came, the pokemon were all looking very hungry because he was starting to hear rumbles of stomachs from each of them, but the loudest came from Snorlax since he had the biggest of appetites.

"Sorry to keep you all waiting, but I promise your wait will all be worth it,",said Ash to the creatures, "I helped Professor Oak make this special pokemon food just for you and I know everyone will love it.

All the pokemon cheered in delight. Snorlax couldn't wait to start eating his extra-large bow lof food but even he knew it was polite to start as soon as Ash went to sit down.

As soon as Ash sat down at the table, Delia spoke. "Ash, would you like to do the honours?"

"Ok. Well everyone, DIG IN!", exclaimed Ash. At that moment, the humans served themselves some food from the table while the pokemon began to eat their own food from their respective bowls, taking their time. Even Snorlax was eating his dinner slowly, because if he didn't, his food wouldn't digest properly and he might get the hiccups from eating too fast.

The rest of the dinner went pretty smoothly. Ash talked with his mother and Professor Oak about his adventures in Unova. He didn't mention anything about Team Plasma, Team Rocket or their plans to take over the world. He did tell, however, how he met Reshiram and Zekrom at the same time he met Victini. He also told the stories of how he first met Keldeo, the Swords of Justice, Kyurem and Meloetta. He also told them a made up story of how he met The Weather Trio just so he didn't mention Team Rocket.

Professor Oak was simply open-mouthed at Ash's stories about the Legendaries. He kept on asking questions about what the pokemon looked like, their personalities and other random stuff that Ash had almost no time to answer. Delia enjoyed listening to his tales and laughed when he mentioned any funny parts.

"I still can't believe you met so many legendaries in one region." ,said Professor Oak. "Seening them even once would be a thing to remember for the rest of your life."

When they finished dinner, Delia had prepared an apple crumble for them. Professor Oak and Ash gave out different pokemon food to the pokemon as a dessert because it had a recipe that is sweet like a dessert. Everyone all enjoyed their desserts and finished them in a matter of minutes. Soon enough, Ash wanted to give out his speech.

"Hey, can I have everybody's attention?", called out Ash. The pokemon stopped what they were all doing and faced Ash's way while Delia and Professor Oak were already listening to him.

"I have been doing some thinking for a little while now since dinner started about how I should continue my journey to be a Pokemon Master and to make you all the very best that you can be.", said Ash to his pokemon, who were listening carefully to their trainer's words, and his mother and Professor Oak too paying attention.

"I have decided to do a change in plans. Instead of just competing in leagues and Battle Frontiers, I've decided to train and become a Top Pokemon Co-ordinator. The reason for this is because it can help us make new techniques for future battles. Another reason for this is because since Dawn and May are no longer our friends, I say we should beat them at their own game and show them what real contest moves are all about. We'll go over all the regions again to participate in all Grand Festivals. If anyone doesn't like the idea, please speak up now.",finished off Ash.

Everyone, but the Unova pokemon, were all surprised at this. Buizel especially. They all thought that Ash would only do battling and not contests, but considering the betrayal of May and Dawn, they all agreed with the idea. Buizel used to do contests, but now that Ash had that idea, he thought it wouldn't be too bad to do them again. And besides, the Unova pokemon might love contests. Nobody said anything in response. At this, Ash smiled.

"Well then in that case, are you all with me?", said Ash in a loud voice. All the pokemon cheered in response to their trainer's question. They would all love to give co-ordinating a go and it sounded like a lot of fun.

"Well, Ash,", said Professor Oak, "I thought you might say that because I have something in here for you that might come in handy."

He handed Ash the package he had earlier to Ash, who grabbed it reluctantly and began to unwrap it. When he lifted the lid, he couldn't believe his eyes at what he saw inside. It was the costume that he had worn at a pokemon tournament that had been held in the Kingdom of Rota in the Hoenn region. It looked just like the one Sir Aaron had worn. And it was in perfect condition.

"Queen Ilene had sent this to me a few months ago while you were in the Unova region.", said Professor Oak, "She explained that she had seen you participate in the Wallace Cup in the Sinnoh region and decided to send you this outfit. She said that if you ever want to participate in pokemon contests, you can wear this costume in them. She also said you remind her of Sir Aaron, whoever that fellow is, when you wore it in the tournament."

"This is awesome, Professor Oak. Thank you. And I'll thank Queen Ilene by writing her a letter tonight. Is that alright with you, Mom?", asked Ash after he turned his attention to his mother.

"Sure, Ash, but don't stay up too late. Alsowhen are you going to start your new journey?", asked Delia.

"I was thinking tomorrow noon.", responded Ash, "I know we haven't seen each other in a while, so I decided to leave later tomorrow so that we can spend some extra quality time together before I go. I really care about you, Mom, and I want to make you proud."

Delia was surprised that he would leave later just to be with his mother for a little bit longer. She had tears in her eyes and grabbed Ash into a huge hug.

"You don't have to do that, honey.", said Delia, still crying

"It's Ok, Mom. I just want to be with you for a little longer before I go on my biggest adventure yet.", said Ash.

"Ash, since you are going to be on a very long journey, would you mind coming to the lab tomorrow before you go? I have some more surprises for you and I was saving them for a special occasion like this.", asked Professor Oak with a wink.

"Ok, Professor.", replied Ash.

After the garden was all cleared up for the night, Professor Oak went to his lab for the night. Ash was helping his mother with cleaning the dishes while the pokemon were beginning to fall asleep. Ash then went up to his room to write the letter for Queen Ilene, which he finished in thrity minutes.

Delia was up in her bedroom, working on another traveling suit for Ash to wear on his journey with her sowing machine. "He's grown up so much and he's still going for his dream, even after what _they_ said about him. If only his father could see him now, he would be so proud.", said Delia to herself.

Pikachu and Ash were already in bed. Little did Ash know he was going to have a dream that would change things for the better.

xxxxx

In the Viridian City Pokemon Centre, the traitors were resting. They had given up on the search for Axew and Buneary an hour ago and were exhausted. But May didn't know in particular that she was soon going to lose two of her own pokemon because of her arrogance.

In a the pokemon recovery room, Blaziken and Glaceon were having a conversation. They also wanted to accompany Ash on his journey, but they were too late to do so. Pikachu was one of Glaceon's best friends and she didn't want to see him go. Blaziken, on the other hand, had a big friendship with Sceptile since they first met as Treeko and Torchic. He also didn't like May for what she said to Ash, even though he was her starter.

"_We should have gone with Axew and Buneary when we had the chance. For all we know, Ash could already be in another region.", _whispered Glaceon sadly while thinking about Pikachu.

"_I know, Glaceon, but they were out of their pokeballs while we were not. There was nothing we could do.", _replied Blaziken in a whisper_._

"_What do you think we are to do now?", _asked Glaceon_._

_If Ash starts doing contests just to get payback, I suggest that if they come at the same contest in the future, when May's not looking or least expecting it, we ditch her and join Ash.", _replied Blaziken_._

"_What if he doesn't accept us?", _asked Glaceon in worry_._

"_We'll tell him why we didn't join him and how much we really care for him instead of May_.", said Blaziken.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Meeting with the Legends

Inside his dream, Ash had found himself in a place that looked so majestic and yet so…strange. The entre place was in the shape of a large room was painted white and a red carpet was strewn across the floor. Some stained glass windows were on what Ash thought was the right wall and there seemed to be light coming from the other side.

"Where am I? And what is this place?", asked Ash to himself in confusement.

The windows showed some pictures of legendary pokemon. Then something caught Ash's eye. In one of the windows, he saw Lugia, the Great Beast of the Sea, flying during what looked like storm and he was carrying a human on his back as he flew. As Ash walked over to the window to get a closer look at the scene, he recognised the human who was in the window.

It was him. Then he suddenly remembered the scene. It was when he was adventuring in the Orange Islands to enter the Orange League when he got in the way of a pokemon thief named Lawrence who wanted to capture The Titan Bird Trio just so that he can capture Lugia as well. Ash still remembered that day very well like it was yesterday, because during that adventure, it was also when Lugia told him he was The Chosen One, the human who would save the world of pokemon from dangers and bring balance to the planet.

When he turned his attention to another window, this one showed a scene of him with Latias and Latios in the secret garden in Altomare. This brought back bad memories for him because he witnessed the death of Latios and having to leave Latias to continue his journey. But he will never forget the moment when he became friends with them.

Ash thought something was strange about these windows, so he decided to walk around to look at them all. As he passed one after another, he kept on seeing more pictures of himself with different Legendary pokemon like Mew, Zekrom, Victini, Kyogre, Jirachi and even Arceus.

All of a sudden, Ash figured out the connection between them. These were all the scenes from all previous adventures he had when he was traveling. They all told the story of how Ash managed to save the world again and again while meeting legendary pokemon. The windows didn't show another human in them, not even Ash's former friends.

Suddenly, a familiar voice was heard from behind. "_Hello, Chosen One_", it said in a welcoming and lukewarm tone.

Ash turned around to be face-to-face – with a lot of familiar faces. He recognised them as the faces of The Titan Bird Trio, Mewtwo, Mew, The Beast Trio, Lugia, Ho-oh, The Regi Trio, Latias, Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza, Jirachi, The Lake Trio, Dialga, Palkia, Regigigas, Giratina, Cresselia, Phione, Manaphy, Darkrai, Shaymin, The Swords of Justice, The Weather Trio, Reshiram, Zekrom, Kyurem and Meloetta. Arceus himself has standing in middle of everyone.

"_It has been quite a while, hasn't it Ash?",_ asked Arceus.

"Yeah , it has.", replied Ash. He then looked at everyone else standing in front of him. "And it is great to see you all again too, everyone."

The legendaries all said their greetings to him in their most politest way. But some others had better ideas. Latias and Shaymin in his Skye Forme quickly flew up to him and tackled him to the ground , nuzzling him. Manaphy quickly ran up to Ash and gave him a big hug, while Jirachi simply floated over and landed on his head, giggling.

"_I'm really happy to see you again, Ash_.", said Latias.

"_Hello, Papa. I missed you so much.", _said Manaphy with tears of joy starting to fomr in his eyes.

"_Long time no see, Ash.", _said Shaymin_._

"_Hey, friend Ash.", _squeaked out Jirachi_._

"And it's all fantastic to see you all too.", said Ash to his friends that he hadn't seen in a very long time. As he began to regain his balance and stand up. The other Legendaries chuckled.

"_It's great to see you in such fine health, Ash."_, said Arceus, still holding in laughter. _"Now, do you know where you are, Chosen one?"_

Ash then remembered that he was going to ask Arceus about where he was. "No, Arceus. Where am I?", asked Ash, still wondering about where he was in the world.

"_Well, my friend, you are in The Hall of Origins.",_ said Arceus.

"The Hall of Origins?", asked Ash in confusion. He had certainly heard of places like Spear Pillar, but he had never heard of such a place as the Hall of Origins

"_The Hall of Origins is the place of myths and legends to humans_. _This is where Arceus first began to shape the universe from and also the place where legendaries come together for special gatherings, much like this one right now.",_ said Landorus.

"Wow. This place is incredible.", said Ash in delight.

"_Indeed_,", replied Ho-oh, "_and these pictures on the windows are symbols and memories . Symbols of your heroism and courage when you protected the world_ _from harm again and again. They are memories to us because they remind us of you."_

"_Now, Ash, lets continue this meeting_.", said Arceus, "_Do you know why you are here?"_

Ash didn't have a clue why he was in an unknown location with all the Legendaries that he knew, so he responded, "No, I don't, Arceus. But my best guess is you called me here to tell me that a new danger has arisen upon the world and you want me to stop it?"

Some of the Legendaries were surprised that Ash would even think of danger the night before his new adventure, but most of them laughed at his guess.

"_Nonsense, boy_,", said Palkia, "_we simply called you here to speak about your new adventure."_

"_Yes_,", said Dialga, "_for all the times, that your either helped us or saved us, we didn't properly manage to thank you for your good deeds._"

"_Ever since Lugia first told me you were known as as the Chosen One_,", spoke Arceus, "_I've been keeping a close eye on you to see if he made the right choice. And he has. I've watched you through the rest of your journey through Sinnoh and your journey in Unova. I have been told that you've been up to your old 'hobby' again. And that is protecting the world from evercoming harm. After all these unselfish acts were reported, we were going to at first bring you here just to give our gratitude and thanks as all at one time."_

Ash couldn't believe this. The Legendaries were all coming together and putting so much trouble just to thank him for saving the planet? This was unbelievable to him.

"_But then we all saw what your so-called 'friends' did to you_,", said Mewtwo, " _this changed the plans for the meeting and made into something more. We are also here to bless your new quest and some of us have some things that we wish to tell you."_

This was news for Ash. He didn't know the Legendaries had figured out about the betrayal, because Ash always thought they had their own duties to attend to and no time to look over him.

"_Ash, your new quest is, in my opinion, going to be the one to determine your destiny as a Pokemon Master_.", said Rayquaza, "_There are many humans who will want to always be stronger than you, including your betrayers. If you are to achieve your dream, then you must not only push yourself to the limits to become more intelligent and strong. But you must also acquire a much larger group of pokemon to be in your team. Because the way I see it, you will need all the help you can get and it is a very long way to the top."_

Ash understood this. He had dreamed of catching more pokemon to befriend and train. But in his case, most of the pokemon that joined his team, like Torkoal, Squirtle and Heracross, had wanted to go with him because he had done something meaningful for them. But with Rayquaza's words, he now fells more determined than ever to catch more pokemon.

"I understand, Rayquaza. I will not ignore your words and do my best.", said Ash in a strong voice as Rayquaza gave a smile of proudness.

"_That is were my plan comes in, Ash_.", said Giratina. "_I had noticed that over your travels, there were a lot of pokemon you have befriended, saved or helped and they had taken a liking to you. I told them about what had happened, and they all agreed to accompany you on your journey. I also told some other pokemon you knew in a bad way, but they also decided to come with you nonetheless. As well as them, any pokemon that you have released will also be coming back. Tomorrow, when you begin your quest, you are to got to a lake that is located in the heart of the north side of Viridian Forest. You shall find them there and take them with you."_

Ash was surprised. Giratina, the Renegade Pokemon, had called upon pokemon that Ash had previously known and told them about the betrayal? He could only remember the Larvitar he helped to hatch, but he was eager to know who else would be there. He also remembered Lapra, Pidgeot and Butterfree and was hoping they were there too.

"_Also, a number of us have also decided to join you_.", said Zekrom.

Ash was shocked. This whole gathering was great already because he was talking with all the Legendaries he knew, but now they want to go with him on his journey? He could only say so much to this.

"But traveling with me could be dangerous._"_, said Ash in protest. This didn't surprise the Legendaries, since they already knew the risks they were willing to take. "It would be great to have you with me and all, but that means we could the targets of pokemon thieves, especially Team Rocket. Also, you all have duties to do in your regions, and I don't want to interfere in those duties. And this might mean for those who want to come, you might have to participate in contests of battles."

The Legendaries were astounded by the boy's protests because he was truly trying to protect them again from any unwanted attention. But just because they were Legendary pokemon doesn't mean they could have their own trainer also as a friend and they can protect themselves without trouble.

"_We all understand your concerns for us, Chosen One_,", said Lugia, "_but we want to see the world from the way you have seen it. And as for our duties, they are really minor jobs in our lives that we can get bored from. Besides, you did a great favour for each of us in the past, and now it is time for those who are willing to come with you to return the favour."_

"_Yeah, Ash. Arceus already ordered another Latias and Latios pair to protect the Soul Dew back in Altomare. I had also told Bianca and Lorenzo about what I wanted to do and they allowed me_.", said Latias

Ash couldn't believe at the efforts of the Legendaries who wanted to go with him. He knew he couldn't win this argument, so he gave out one final answer.

"Ok. For those who want to come with me, you can come. But I can't promise you a pain-free journey since battles will be involved in it,", said Ash softly, "but I will do the best that I possibly can to make sure you will never be put in harm's way and I will take all responsibilies for all actions."

The Legendaries smiled. The pokemon who were coming all cheered in excitement.

"_That's great to hear, Ash,",_ said Mewtwo, "_Now do you remember when I told you that some of us wanted to talk to you about some things?"_

"Yes, Mewtwo. I remember.", replied Ash.

The Legendaries suddenly all disappeared except for Zekrom, Ho-oh, and Lugia.

Zekrom started off. "_Hero of Ideals, do you remember on the first day of your Unova journey, I shot lightning at Pikachu and rendering him powerless without electricity for a short time? Do you know why I did that?"_

"Yeah. I remember that day very well. I forgot to ask you that when we last met.", replied Ash as that day came back to his mind.

"_Well, my lightning bolts are a sign of judgement.",_ explained Zekrom, " _And when I first laid eyes on Pikachu, I knew instantly he was worthy of a power much greater than what he had already. During the time he was without electricity, there was a power growing in him that he still hasn't unlocked today. And in an area of his mind that he has not yet uncovered. What I gave him was the power to use my signature moves, Bolt Strike and Fusion Bolt."_

Ash could only stand in shock when he heard this. All this time, he thought that the lightning strike from Zekrom was a short time curse, but here he was now telling him that it was instead a gift and that Pikachu now has a power that can be unleashed.

"That sounds logical, Zekrom, but does Pikachu even have what it takes to discover his true power?", asked Zekrom.

Zekrom laughed. _"Yes, he does. That is why I want to come along with you so I can help him to unlock power during our travels. Now, I believe it is Ho-oh's turn to talk to you."_

Then he disappeared like the other pokemon.

Ho-oh flew walked a few more feet towards Ash before stopping. _"Ash, do you remember on your very first day of your journey when you saw me flying? Did you actually know why I let you see me?"_

"No, Ho-oh. All this time, I still hadn't thought back to that day."', replied Ash.

"_Well, I was blessing your journey. In myths, it is said those who see me will be granted eternal happiness. I see you have sort of found eternal happiness by now. During your travels, you have met many new pokemon and people. And no matter mow many leagues you lost, you always had the determination to go on. You also met your 'friends' with dreams of their own that they want to accomplish, but now that they have left you, I wish to personally bless your new journey. Face to face.", _said Ho-oh.

Then Ho-oh dug her beak in to her back like she was trying to flatten her magnificent coat of feathers. Instead, she plucked out a feather out of her back with her beak and put it in Ash's hand.

"_In other myths, those who receive a feather from me won't just have a very happy journey, but they will also find someone that they can trust forever without doubt_.", said Ho-oh.

"Thank you very much, Ho-oh.", thanked Ash. He was still thinking if there was anyone he could still trust apart from his pokemon, Gary, Mom and Professor Oak. Even after the betrayal.

"_You are very welcome, Chosen One. Now it looks like Lugia wants his turn to talk to you_.", said Ho-oh before vanishing like Zekrom.

Lugia spoke. "_I'll bet you have been wondering about something in particular about yourself for quite a while now. Have you ever wondered why I decided to make you as The Chosen One?"_

Out of all the things that ran in Ash's mind, that question was what he thought about the most in his life since the Orange Islands. He thought to himself over and over again why he was the Chosen One and not someone else.

"No. Lugia, out of all the people in the world, why did you chose me?", asked Ash.

"_Ash, I have been searching out for a human worthy to be the Chosen One for countless centuries. I have come across some who seemed to have the potential to be the Chosen One, but they were all missing the same aspect. And that is a heart that knows no boundries of love for pokemon_.", explained Lugia, _" I couldn't seem to find that person. Until you were born, that is. I looked deep into your soul and saw that you were to definitely have what it takes have the heart of a true Chosen One. But after seeing what happened to you during the first conflict between Mew and Mewtwo, I knew that the Chosen One was going to be you. When you interfered in that conflict, I saw that you loved all kinds of pokemon, clones or not. So I made it my mission that I was to tell you that you are the Chosen One. And that time luckily turned out to be at the Orange Islands."_

Ash had listened carefully to Lugia's whole story. He now understood the truth about his second identity. So he was chosen because of an aspect he had that others didn't. A heart that knows no boundries for love of pokemon."

"Lugia, it all makes sense to me now. Thank you, for everything. And I will continue to adore pokemon just the way they are.", said Ash.

Lugia smiled. Then the Legendaries began to reappear, but not all were present. The ones that were all present were Arceus, Celebi, Lugia, Ho-oh, Latias, Jirachi, Manaphy, Giratina, Darkrai, Azelf, Shaymin, Keldeo, Meloetta, Zekrom, Victini and Kyurem.

"_Ash, our meeting is coming to a close. The pokemon in front of you, excluding myself and Celebi, will be joining you on your journey. You will find them in their respective pokeballs in your desk drawer when you wake up. The others have already left, but they wish you grand luck on your journey."_, said Arceus.

Suddenly, the Legendaries, except Arceus, turned into flashes of red light and were sucked into pokeballs they were carrying that Ash hadn't noticed. The pokeballs all went off with a ding, signalling their capture, and then vanished.

"_Also, Ash, just what because you can no longer trust your former friends doesn't mean you can't trust anyone else you have met who doesn't agree with them_. _This means there might still be someone out there who does appreciate your skills._", said Celebi before vanishing too.

Soon, the only ones that were left in the Hall of Origins were Ash and Arceus. But not for long.

"_Ash?", _said Arceus.

"Yes, Arceus?", replied Ash.

"_It's time to wake up.", _said Arceus before giving off a huge light. That was the last thing Ash remembered before closing his eyes.

xxxxx

Ash's eyes snapped open as he awoke. Pikachu was still sleeping at the foot of his bed with his mouth drooling. He must be having another dream about ketchup again. Ash slowly sat up in his bed, careful not to wake up Pikachu. He looked at his clock and it showed that is was six thirty in the morning. Some sunlight was peering in through the closed curtains.

His mind was still going over about what happened at the Hall of Origins. Was all that real or was it just another dream that he had? His head was beginning to go a little bit crazy.

Suddenly, he saw something glistening from under his pillow. He put his hand in and pulled out a shining feather. Ash recognised it as the one Ho-oh had given to him in his dream. So it wasn't a dream. And that meant it all really happened. The Hall of Origins. The meeting. The Legendaries. It was all true. And that meant one other thing.

Ash quickly scrambled out of bed, waking up Pikachu in the process.

"Pika Pika?", said a yawning Pikachu, a little bit annoyed to be woken up from his great dream.

"Sorry about that, Pikachu, but I have to see something.", apologised Ash as he ran towards his desk. He then opened its top draw and revealed fourteen pokeballs. They were the pokeballs of the legendary pokemon.

"Yes, so it wasn't a dream at all!", exclaimed Ash. Pikachu was confused at why his trainer was acting so jumpy.

"Pikachu Pikapi?", asked Pikachu.

"Oh yeah, Pikachu. Sorry for waking you up, but there is something I want you to see and tell you.", said Ash. He showed the little mouse the feather of Ho-oh and the fourteen new pokeballs.

"Pika Pika Pikachu?", asked Pikachu in confusion. The items all looked interesting to him.

"I guess it would all make sense if I explained the whole dream to you.", sweatdropped Ash, "Well, you see, I had this dream…"

For about ten minutes, Ash explained the whole dream he had to Pikachu, not leaving out a single detail. He explained what the Legendaries had told him about his journey, meeting again with old pokemon friends, how some of the Legendaries explained to him important details and what Legendaries were in the pokeballs. He also mentioned the part where Zekrom said Pikachu had his powers and could use his signature moves. All of this made Pikachu really excited because he will get to see Manaphy and his other Legendary friends again. But at the part where Ash said Zekrom gave Pikachu great power, he was really shocked. He kept looking at his hands in wonder. Did he really have so much power within him or was it all a joke.

Suddenly, they heard Delia's voice coming from downstairs. "Ash, come down and have your breakfast. You can't leave on your journey on an empty stomach, you know.", shouted Delia.

"Ok, Mom, I'll be down in a moment. Just need to get changed into some clothes.", answered Ash. Pikachu didn't want to see Ash getting changed in front of him, so he quickly bolted out of the room and downstairs to the kitchen.

Ash didn't know what he was going to wear until he saw a new set of traveling clothes on his dresser waiting on his dresser. There was his black shirt that he always wears, a shirt sleeved jacket that was white and had orange sleeves, a cap that had the same colours, a light grey pair of jeans and a pair of sneakers that were sporting the colours of black and white. Ash thought the clothes looked incredible, so he put them on straight away. He wasn't going to put on the shoes until he goes outside, but he did put on a clean pair of white socks.

When he was done, he went downstairs, only to be hit by the delicious aroma of pancakes, maple syrup and hot chocolate. As he entered the kitchen, his mother suddenly looked up from washing the frying pan. He quickly went to the doorway to put his new shoes near the door.

"Good morning, dear. Have you had a good night's sleep before your big day today?", asked his mother with a smile. Pikachu was already at the kitchen table, eating some pokemon food with ketchup on top.

"I slept well, Mom.", replied Ash. He sat down at the table and began to eat his breakfast. His mother soon joined him. Ash took his time in eating, which surprised his mom, because he would usually scarf down his food in a hurry before running off.

"Thank you for the great new clothes, Mom.", said Ash.

"You're welcome. They really suit you.", replied Delia.

"Pika!", agreed Pikachu, whose mouth was covered with ketchup.

When they were finished eating, Ash began to clean up the table and putting the dishes in the mom was cleaning up Pikachu's face with a cloth, which he liked very much.

"Ash, I can take care of the rest of this. I suggest you get to Professor Oak's laboratory. He did say he had a few more surprises for you before you going your journey, didn't he?", asked Delia.

"Oh, yeah. I'll go there right now.", said Ash as he dashed for the door and putting on his new shoes and Pikachu following him.

"Take care, sweetie.", called out Delia.

"Ok.", said Ash. He then turned to his partner, who was perched up on his shoulder. Just then, Buneary and Axew appeared before him, wanting to come along too.

"Well, guys, this is it. After noon hits, we and the others shall have a new beginning at a new journey. We'll show the world that we are going to be the very best that anyone has ever see.", said Ash proudly.

The three pokemon agreed by cheering. Then they began to run to Professor Oak's lab, just like on the day Ash first started his journey. He also couldn't wait to get to Viridian Forest to meet the newcomers and to show the Legendaries to his pokemon.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Let the Journey Begin

As Ash, along with Pikachu, Buneary and Axew, ran towards Professor Oak's laboratory, Ash was trying to think what kind of surprises the professor had for him. Maybe it's a new gadget for him to test out. He would soon find out when he gets there. But as he began to ascend the hill that led to the lab, he was beginning to slow down. Ash was really exhausted from running on the road, but he got there without much trouble.

As he opened the door, he heard the professor's voice. "Ash, if that's you, I'm in the main laboratory.", he called out.

"Ok, Professor. I'm coming.", said Ash walking towards the lab room. When he got there, he saw Professor Oak standing with three pokeballs in his hands. Behind him, a strange device was resting on a table. It resembled a normal wristwatch, but it was slightly bigger, had more buttons and there were no watch-related characteristics. Axew and Buneary were standing on either side of him.

"Good morning, Professor Oak.", greeted Ash eagerly. He couldn't wait to see what surprises he had in store for him.

"Good morning to you too, Ash. It looks like you had a good night's sleep and I'm guessing you really want to know what the surprises I told you about yesterday are, correct.", asked Professor Oak.

"Yes, Professor.", replied Ash, "and has it got something to do with those pokeballs you are holding?"

"That's right Ash. In these pokeballs are three of your pokemon, Squirtle, Primeape and Haunter.", said Professor Oak as he gave the pokeballs to Ash.

Ash's eyes widened. He had completely forgot about these three pokemon during his travels, but now that he has been reminded of them, he was beyond overjoyed to see them.

"Thanks so much professor!", said Ash excitedly and then turned to his pokemon. "Did you hear that, Pikachu? We'll be seeing some of our old friends again after so long."

"Pika Pika Chu.", exclaimed Pikachu happily, clearly wanting to see the trio of pokemon again.

Ash turned to Buneary and Axew, who were confused on who Ash was talking about. "Buneary and Axew, these are some of my pokemon that I travelled with during my first journey. Haunter was only with me for a short time before he stayed with the Saffron City Gym Leader, Sabrina. And to tell you the truth, I never caught him. I only befriended him. But I know that you two are going to be great friends with them once you get to know them."

Axew and Buneary smiled and nodded their heads, showing that they trust their trainer. Axew was looking excited in particular.

Ash then turned back to the professor. "When did they arrive professor?", asked Ash, only calmer this time.

"Primeape and Squirtle have just arrived today. I called Anthony and told him that you needed Primeape on your journey, but I didn't tell him about the betrayal. He told me that he was going to call me soon anyway so you could have Primeape back because there was basically nothing left to teach Primeape and he was an accomplished P1 Champion. When Primeape heard your name on the other side, he began to hit the monitor furiously as if your were trapped in it. Then I called the Officer Jenny that was in charge of The Squirtle Squad. I told her that you needed Squirtle back and she said she was fine with it. She also told me that there have been less fires because the Squirtles have learned powerful water-type moves. And because that the team has been so successful, the other Squirtles allowed yours to go with you since they could handle things perfectly while he was away. I didn't tell her what happened either."

"That's great to hear, Professor. What about Haunter?", asked Ash since Professor Oak didn't mention the ghost-type pokemon.

"Well, Ash, Haunter arrived last night after dinner. Sabrina called me a few minutes after I got home. Because Sabrina is very good with psychic powers, she told me she had sensed the betrayal happen and she was going to send over Haunter. Haunter was very sad about what happened and wanted to re-join you. Also, she officially caught it for you.", explained Professor Oak.

"Alright. Is there anything else that you wanted to talk to me about?", asked Ash.

"Yes, my boy. There is one more thing that I want to give to you that might come of great use.", said Professor Oak as he grabbed the machine that Ash had seen earlier on his table, "This machine is called a Micro-Dex. It is the first of its kind and I think you should have the privilege of testing it out for me while you are on your journey. It has the functions of the most advanced Pokedex, PokeNav, Pokegear, X-Transciever,, Poketch and a few other devices. You can use it to scan pokemon like a regular pokedex, you can use it as a map like a PokeNav and you can call people like an X-Transciever."

Ash was given the Micro-Dex, which he was amazed by its lightness. He put it on his left wrist and stared at it with awe, but he looked back at Professor Oak had more to tell him and continued to pay attention.

Professor Oak continued, "I have programmed this Micro-Dex with all of your data. Gym badges collected, leagues competed in and in what place you have got to, captured pokemon and other details of your own trainer record. I also have removed the limiter from the part of the machine where you can only carry six pokemon at a time, so now you can carry an unlimited amount of pokemon with you. If you are going to be on a very long journey, you might as well take all of your pokemon."

"That's awesome, Professor Oak. Looks like I won't have to keep on switching out pokemon anymore, but if you ever need to study them some more, I can always send them to you.", said Ash.

"That's very generous of you, but I have studied all your pokemon the best I could, so the only pokemon you could bring here are the new ones you might catch in the future. The Micro-Dex also has a miniature inbuilt pad that can be used for transporting pokeballs to my laboratory. Also here is the manual on how to use the Micro-Dex, so I suggest you read it before using. And I'm quite surprised at one thing over the duration of your entire journey.", said Professor Oak as he gave Ash a small booklet.

Ash grabbed the booklet before looking at the professor. "What has surprised you, Professor Oak?", asked Ash.

"From day one of your journey to today, you still haven't checked your money savings.", said Professor Oak.

This confused Ash because he didn't know anything about any savings that he had. "What do you mean by my savings?"

"You see, I keep on forgetting to tell you something important, but since I just remembered and you are here, I can tell you. Every beginning trainer gets a bank account on the first day of their journey. You see, you can earn money form battles. This includes trainer battles, Gym battles, Frontier Brain battles, League battles, Elite Four battles, Champion battles and contest battles. The amount you get depends on what pokemon you and your opponent use and what level they are, what strategies are used, how long the battle lasts, type advantages and class of battles. All of your savings then get transferred from your Pokedex to the regional bank of the region it is made in. All of your savings records have also been recorded to the Micro-Dex. Why don't you take a look at them?", said Professor Oak.

Ash was surprised he even had an account. He was given a good amount by his mother at the beginning of his journey, but he never knew he had a real account.

"I might just do that.", replied Ash. He quickly went to the section in the booklet on _How To Check Personal Details and Finances. _He then followed the instructions and went through the Micro-Dex data until he reached _Personal Savings_. He opened that file and then began to read it's contents.

_Name: Ash Ketchum_

_Hometown: Pallet Town_

_Current Age: 15_

_Home Region: Kanto_

_Bank Account Number: 380295_

_Kanto Regional Bank Balance: 485,690 Pokedollars_

_Johto Regional Bank Balance: 367,902 Pokedollars_

_Hoenn Regional Bank Balance: 534,807 Pokedollars_

_Sinnoh Regional Bank Balance: 669,467 Pokedollars_

_Unova Regional Bank Balance: 430,682 Pokedollars_

Ash couldn't believe his eyes. He had _that_ much money in the bank account he never knew he had. During his travels, Brock and Cilan always seemed to spend money to provide for the group's needs, but now he could provide for himself and his pokemon since he is going to be traveling alone.

"Professor, this is incredible.", said Ash while stuttering

"I know, my boy.", said Professor Oak, "now, why don't you go back home? I'm sure your other pokemon will want to really meet those three. I'll see you later on in the afternoon. Your mother invited me for lunch and I'll bring some pokemon food over."

"Great, Professor. I'll see you then, ", said Ash before turning to Pikachu, Axew and Buneary, "C'mon, guys. Lets go introduce the others to these three. You'll get to see them too."

As Ash ran out of the lab and down the hill with Pikachu on his shoulder, Buneary hopping behind him and Axew sitting in his head, he was beginning to imagine what the faces of the others would look like when they saw the three new arrivals. Charizard would start a rivalry with Primeape since he was beaten him when he was a Charmander, Squirtle would be happy top see the pokemon he knew over the Kanto journey and Haunter would probably start to play pranks on everyone the moment he gets out of his pokeball.

As he ran up to his house, he saw his mother with Mr. Mime, picking some parsley from her small herb and vegetable patch. He decided to stop and tell her what happened over at Professor Oak's lab.

"Hey, Mom. I'm back from the professor's lab.", said Ash. Delia turned to see her with three pokeballs in his hands and the three pokemon beside him. She also couldn't help but notice there was a strange device on his wrist.

"Hi, sweetie. How did things go over there? And where did you get those pokeballs and the machine on your wrist?", asked Delia with interest.

"Do you remember me telling you that I had a Primeape, Squirtle and Haunter?", said Ash. Delia thought for a moment before answering.

"I do. Why do you ask?", asked Delia.

"Well,", replied Ash, "they are in here in these pokeballs and they also wanted to come with me on my journey. In case you are wondering about the machine, that's called a Micro-Dex. Professor Oak gave it to me so I can use it as my new pokedex. It also has other features like a map and a phone. So you can call me whenever you need to."

"That's great. I'm going to start making lunch soon. The other pokemon are now awake and they've been wondering where you were. You should go see them.", said Delia.

"Ok, Mom. I'll come help you with making lunch after.", replied Ash as he ran to the back garden.

Delia smiled. She was happy to be spending some extra time with her son. She then went inside with the parsley as well as with some other herbs.

xxxxx

When Ash arrived at the garden, he saw that the pokemon were indeed awake. They were all talking to each other and seemed to be observing each other's attacks, but Leavanny was trying to stop Heracross from once again extracting the nectar from Bulbasaur's bulb.

"Hey, everyone! I'm back,", called out Ash. They all turned to face their trainer with smiles and happy grins, "I've got some friends I want you all to meet, but some of you might know them already."

Some of the pokemon were confused at who Ash referred to, but they were soon about to find out.

"Come on out, guys!",said Ash as he tossed the pokeballs into the air. They snapped open and a white beam of light shot out of each. Those beams then shaped themselves into three different creatures. The first one was what seemed to be a giant ball of white fur with a pig snout, two ears two arms and two legs that have a metal ring on the wrists and ankles sticking out and a pair of assertive eyes. There was also a belt with a big golden buckle that was normally seen at wrestling matches. It had the words_ Primeape: P1 Official Champion _engraved around what looked like the official trademark symbol of the wrestling league.

The second creature resembled a turtle. Its body was a light blue colour with large eyes. It had a red shell with white outlines and a light yellow underbelly. It had a tail that looked a bit like a swirl.

The third creature looked a lot like a ghost. It was completely purple in colour and floating in mid-air. There were purple teeth that seemed to blend in with its purple face that had a pair of mischievous-looking eyes. And there were also a pair of purple hands that weren't connected to the rest of the body.

"Squirt Squirtle Squirt!", said Squirtle upon release.

"Primeape!", said Primeape, possibly looking for a strong opponent to defeat.

"Hau Hau Haunter!", screeched out Haunter.

When they looked at the large group in front of pokemon in front of them, they were slightly confused since they didn't look all that familiar, apart from a few, and there was no sign of Ash. The then they heard a voice behind them that belonged to their trainer.

"Hey, guys. It has been a while, hasn't it?", said Ash with a small chuckle.

When they turned around, they saw Ash and immediately ran up to him. Primeape gave him a huge bone-crushing hug, Squirtle hugged his leg and Haunter floated over his head in delight. Then he went right through him, sending chills up his spine, just for some laughs.

"Ok,ok, you guys can let go now.", assured Ash to Squirtle and Primeape, who decided to let go.

"It's very wonderful to see you all again,", said Ash, "and judging by your belt, Primape, It looks like Anthony kept his promise and made you the best P1 Champion there is. Congratulations."

"Primape.", said Primeape in agreement.

"I know it has been a while, so I don't think you know all of these pokemon. While you were away, I went through other regions during my journey and caught them to be on my team.", said Ash, "so why don't you get acquainted with the rest of them? They have all been very eager to see you. And they are friendly."

The three newcomers walked towards the large group, while Ash went back inside to help his mother with cooking lunch, and were greeted with open arms. They took turns introducing each other. Primeape even recognised Charizard as the Charmander he battled once, and he apologised for any inconvenience between them. Charizard accepted the apology. Haunter got in a contest with Krookodile on who can make the most scariest face. Squirtle got a good welcome by the pokemon did know.

Suddenly, when Primeape turned around when someone tapped him on the shoulder, he met the leering eyes of Scraggy.

"_What are you looking at, shortstuff?", _asked Primeape, who got into battle stance.

"_You look tough and strong, but I want to battle you to see if you are what Ash says you are.", _said Scraggy.

"_Is that so? Well then, lets fight now.", _said Primeape angrily. The two looked at each other with fires in their eyes, but Pikachu had other ideas.

"_C'mon, guys. Can we all just get along? Save your new-found rivalry for training time. I mean, this is Ash's house and his mother won't like it if we turn it into a battlefield.",_ said Pikachu crossly.

Scraggy and Primeape both looked at each other one more time before going the opposite directions to the other pokemon. Pikachu sighed in relief.

"_So, Pikachu. Is there any reason why we were needed on a new journey on Ash? Professor Oak looked a little bit desperate when he was talking.",_ asked Squirtle.

"_Well, Squirtle,", _explained Pikachu, "_Ash has decided to go on a new journey through all the regions we went through again and this time, he is confident that we will be the best, in both battling and contests."_

"_Contests?",_ said a surprised Haunter, "_I've seen a few contests that happened in Saffron City and by the looks of things, they focus more on beauty instead of power. Why would Ash decide to compete in something like that?"_

"_Well, something bad happened that made Ash feel really down.", _said Pikachu.

"_WHAT?! What happened to him that made him feel sad?", _asked Sqiurtle with demand.

Pikachu looked to the pokemon who knew about the betrayal and they nodded, showing him that the three returnees had the right to know about what happened. Axew and Buneary ran up to Pikachu's side, wanting to help explain their involvement.

"Well, it started like this…", explained Pikachu

xxxxx

Ash and his mother were in the kitchen preparing lunch. Ash was busy cutting up some leaves of lettuce while Delia was making some chicken cream soup. Ash as was about to finish the last leaf , Delia spoke up.

"Ash, I forgot to tell you. I had also made you some fingerless gloves that are upstairs in your room. I think now would be a good time to go pack for your journey so you won't have to leave too late.", said Delia, "I also have a new backpack for you and it's in your room.

"I'll go do that, Mom. Thanks.", replied Ash as a put the chopping knife on the table and exited the kitchen.

When he entered his room, he noticed the new backpack on his bed. It was a little bit bigger than the usual bags he normally took with him and it had a few more zippers meaning there were more pockets. It had the colours of black, green and silver. The new pair of gloves that his mother mentioned were on the bed also. They were just like the ones that he had on his Sinnoh journey, but they were white and black. He firstly packed a few pairs of clean underwear from his closet so that his Mom wouldn't have to remind him, the costume from Queen Ilene, some other spare clothing, a sleeping bag, a cookbook that his mother gave him for the journey and a water bottle.

He then turned to the pokeballs of the legendaries that were on his desk. He didn't know whether to pack them too so Professor Oak an Delia wouldn't be surprised. But as he was about to pack them too, her heard Giratina's voice inside his head.

"_Ash, why don't you introduce us to the others? It would be great to meet your mother and mentor as well. And don't worry about attracting too much attention from the townsfolk, because Darkrai can take care of that.", _said Giratina.

"Ok, Giratina, I'll do that. ", responded Ash. He then minimised the pokeballs and put them in a little satchel.

When he was done packing the rest of his required things, he decided to bring his backpack downstairs in the corridor for later. The pokeballs of the other pokemon were still in the dining room, but he would take care of those later.

After bringing his bag down, he went back to the kitchen to see his mother washing dishes. He took the satchel of pokeballs with him and attached it to his belt.

"Hey, Mom. I've finished packing what I need for the journey. And before you ask, I did pack some extra underwear, too.", said Ash proudly. Delia smiled.

"Glad you remembered, Ash. Can you give me a hand with this cooking?", asked Delia politely.

"Sure, Mom. The faster we can get lunch finished, the better.", said Ash.

xxxxx

While Ash was busy doing things in the house, Pikachu, Buneary and Axew had just finished tellin Primeape, Squirtle and Hauntervthe story of what Ash's friends did to him and why the new journey was going to be completely different. He also told them that they also thought that all the pokemon Ash had would always stay weak. The trio were furious at hearing this.

"_How dare they hurt Ash like that! I ought to turn them into piles of mush for this!", _shouted out Primeape in rage. He began to punch the ground in frustration, but Donphan stopped him with his trunk.

"_The next time I see them, I think I'll lay a curse on them just to teach them a lesson.", _said Haunter.

"_I'm just glad that you two decided to join our team instead of sticking with those losers_.", said Squirtle to Axew and Buneary.

Pikachu decided it was time to put that in the past. "_Ok, guys. That's enough for now. We can all show those traitors that they are the ones who are weak by beating them at their own games when the time is right."_

"_Well that explains why Ash decided to do contests too. ", _said Squirtle.

"_For now, lets just drop that subject and focus on something else,",_ said Buneary, "_because if we keep on mentioning those idiots, everyone here will soon want to find them and fight them."_

xxxxx

Meanwhile, something else was happening in a faraway Team Rocket Headquarters. The man in the black business suit known as Giovanni, the supreme leader of the crime organisation, was watching footages of specific events during the adventures of one of his most annoying enemies, Ash Ketchum. The trio of Kaleb, Jessie and Meowth had just finished explaining their latest failure of capturing Ash's pokemon and their leader decided to watch some evidence. On multiple screens, I continued to show Ash in many different locations with many different Legendaries. There was Ash in Altomare helping Latias to stop Annie and Oakley, him during the time that Jirachi was awakened and he was stopping the fake Groudon from destroying everything, him trying to save Zorua and helping him to get back to his mother while stopping another man, him saving Lugia from Professor Namba's rage-triggering machines, him riding upon Zekrom while trying to stop the sword-shaped castle form disturbing the Dragon Force and many other scenes where it involves him saving the world and Legendaries. He also decided to see some scenes where he was responsible for the failures of Cassidy and Butch, the trio's latest failure and when he first showed himself at Viridian City where he first stopped Team Rocket from stealing pokemon from the Pokemon Centre.

"So this brat has been a thorn in Team Rocket's side for about five years and stopped many of our major plans. And he has met just about legendary in existence and stopped other criminal organistaions. What's so special about him that gives him those kinds of opportunities?", said Giovanni in a low voice.

Kaleb decided to speak up. "Sir, I know that I just met that kid, but by the looks of him and the strength of his pokemon, I can tell you that he is no pushover. He means business."

"I see.", replied Giovanni as he turned to Jessie and Meowth, "You two seem to know him best since you are always seem to try to steal his Pikachu. What's so special about that Pikachu that separates him from the rest? And since James decided to quit, can you tell me?"

"Well, sir,", began Jessie, "ever since he first stopped us in Viridian City, we began to trail him during the twerp's journey trying to catch him. It may have been a waste of time, but Pikachu was getting stronger every step of the way. Heck, he defeated a Regice that belonged to Brandon of the Kanto Battle Frontier and, just last year at the Sinnoh League, a Latios that belonged to a trainer who also had a Darkrai. As well as that, at the beginning of the twerp's Unova journey, he was shocked by Zekrom and that had to mean something. And because of the bond he shares with his trainer, he used his electricity to break free himself and Reshiram from Team Plasma's mind control device. And, if you remember, he fired a huge Electroball at us when he foiled Operation TEMPEST. He is far stronger than any normal Pikachu."

Giovanni was surprised. Normally, Pikachus, to him, would be only good for trainer or gym battles. But this one was mainly used to save the world and defeat two Legendaries.

"Is there anything else that you want to tell me about the boy? Because now would be the best time since we are talking about him.", asked Giovanni as he picked up a cup of hot coffee.

"Well, sir, there are two more things that are very surprising about him. The first one is that he is somehow descended from Sir Aaron and can use aura. And the other will be most shocking to you. Most Legendaries that he met referred to him as The Chosen One. We found out about that when he stopped Lawrence the Pokemon Collector.", said Meowth.

At that moment, Giovanni dropped the cup he was holding and it smashed on the floor and splattering coffee everywhere. He couldn't belive his ears. The boy? The Chosen One? This had to be a joke. But that had to explain why he met so many legendary pokemon and they respected him.

"You two,", said Giovanni sternly to Jessie and Meowth, "I want you to give me as much information on this kid. Where he has been, events he participated in, leagues competed in, well-known achievements, friends, home, family, pokemon captured, everything. Then I want you to keep on following him on his journeys and report to me anything that is of high importance. But don't disturb him or let him see you, because he will suspect our actions. That will be your new assignment and you will be provided with fundings and supplies. Kaleb will join you. It looks like Ash Ketchum is something more than just a nuisance."

Jessie and Meowth were shocked that their boss was giving them a mission that seemed important to him. And it was tracking the twerp like they always did. So they began by telling him everything they new on their enemy.

xxxxx

In Viridian City, the traitors were busy touring the place. They decided to stay here since there was going to be the first Pokemon Contest tomorrow for the year since the Grand Festival just ended. They wanted to see May and Dawn compete for the first ribbon of the year. Ursula, Drew, Harley, Zoey, Kenny, Nando and some other co-ordinators were also going to compete, but they had no idea that a certain raven-haired trainer was also going to be in the contest.

But at the Pokemon Centre, Blaziken, Glaceon and some other pokemon that belonged to their master's friends were relaxing after practicing for the contest. Blaziken and Glaceon were the only two awake, so they could talk.

"_I hope Ash gets to this town soon, because the sooner he gets here, the sooner we can get away from May. I really hope Sceptile can forgive us.", _whispered Blaziken.

"_I just hope Pikachu and the others will be able to accept us like they must have accepted Buneary and Axew already.", _said Glaceon sadly, "_He is really important to me and Ash looks like he can somehow make me better."_

Suddenly, there was a flash of light in the room. That caught the attention of Blaziken and Glaceon and the light was beginning to wake up some of the others. As the light died down, there was a pink bipedal creature with a dark pink skinned tail floating in midair.

This was Mewtwo. His eyes began to glow a light blue colour and the same coloured aura surrounded all pokemon except Blaziken and Glaceon. The ones that were beginning to wake up suddenly went back to sleep and the ones who were still asleep stayed asleep. Mewtwo must have used Hypnosis.

Blaziken and Glaceon were about to get into battle stance, but Mewtwo spoke to them silently, "Hello."

"_Who are you and what do you want?", _said Blaziken.

"_I am Mewtwo. I am not here to fight you. I simply want to talk to you two in particular.", _said Mewtwo in a low quiet voice.

"_Why?", _asked Glaceon.

"_I have been watching you and read your thoughts. You really want to go back to Ash, don't you?", _said Mewtwo.

The two were surprised that this mysterious new pokemon knew about their wants. But they remained calm.

"_How do you know that?", _asked Glaceon.

"_I know Ash as a friend and I can help you get to him. All I ask from you is to trust me.", _said Mewtwo in a serious voice.

"_How do we know this isn't some kind of trap? What if you work for people like Team Rocket_?", asked Blaziken.

Mewtwo got a little angry when he mentioned the name of the group that created him and betrayed him, but he kept his cool.

"_Team Rocket created me, but they soon betrayed me when they tried to use me as a tool for their dirty work. I ran away from them and I've been running ever since with other clone pokemon. I met Ash along the way and he helped me in my time of need. And I trust him.", _explained Mewtwo.

That sounded convincing to the duo because they relaxed.

"_Yes, we do want to go to him, but we don't know when he'll be here, where to find him or how to get him to trust us.", _said Glaceon.

"_I can tell him what you think of him and I can convince him to trust you. He is planning to do contests on his new journey, so that might increase your chances of being accepted into his team.", _said Mewtwo.

The duo smiled at this. But even though they now know Ash will be doing contests, they both agreed earlier that they wouldn't mind battling as well.

"_So, what's the plan, Mewtwo?",_ asked Blaziken.

Mewtwo explained the rest of his idea to them.

Xxxxx

Soon, it was lunchtime. Ash and Delia had just finished preparing lunch of hot sandwiches, flavoured milk and salad for themselves and Professor Oak. Like yesterday, they decided to eat outside on the same table with the pokemon. It wasn't set up in the same fashion, but it was good enough for a good lunch.

As Ash was getting the plates, the doorbell rang, showing that Professor Oak had arrived. When he opened the door, Professor oak was standing behind a cart of fresh pokemon food. He didn't have his lab coat as usual.

"Hello, my boy.", greeted Professor Oak.

"Hey there, Professor. Are you ready for lunch?", said Ash.

"I sure am, Ash. I have brought some special food for your Snorlax. If you remember the Pokeblock that I showed you that is made just for Snorlax, I made it into pokemon food. ", said Professor Oak as he gave a container to him, "This contains it for the journey ahead of you along with the recipe, but I got some with me for now."

"Thanks, Professor. This will do me good.", said Ash as they entered and he helped push the cart in.

"You're welcome, Ash,", replied Professor Oak, "and that is a fine smell of sandwiches."

Ash laughed. "Yep. The table is all set outside. You can sit down while I bring the pokemon food out."

After he wheeled the cart into the backyard, he grabbed the food bowls that were in the cupboard and set them all out on the grass. The pokemon saw this and began running towards Ash, in hunger. Even the Tauros ran in an orderly fashion.

"Don't worry, everyone. Lunch will soon be here. I'll just fill the bowls up for you,", said Ash. The pokemon then sat down. When Snorlax sat, a small earthquake could be felt, "Also, we're going to have a some more friends joining us for lunch, and I think you guys are going to be very surprised by who they will be."

Everyone except Pikachu was confused. They didn't think there would be anyone else joining them.

Ash pushed the cart beside the bowls and began to fill them up. Some pokemon began to drool at the smell of their lunch, but stood their ground. When Ash got to Snorlax's bowl, he only put a handful of pokemon food in the bowl. This confused Snorlax.

"Lax?", asked Snorlax.

"Snorlax, do you remember that Pokeblock that Professor Oak made for you that would fill you right up? Well, he made it into pokemon food. This should be enough for you since it expands and you might only have to eat a few of them. I'll bring some on the journey, so don't you worry about a thing, buddy.", said Ash.

Snorlax smiled. He liked that Pokeblock a lot, but now he wanted to taste it in its food form. When Ash finished filling the rest of the bowls, he heard the screen door opening.

Delia came out with a plateful of steaming sandwiches, a glass of chocolate milk. Ash went into the house and came back out with a bowl of salad. They put the food on the table and then took their seats.

"Ash, is there anything that you would like to tell us all before we eat?", asked Professor Oak.

Ash took the satchet form his belt and emptied the pokeballs onto the table.

"Yes, I do, Professor,", said Ash before turning to his pokemon, "in fact, I'd like to show you some more of our teammates."

The pokemon looked eager to see who were joining them.

"Ash, I don't remember seeing these pokeballs before.", said a confused Professor Oak, "Who are these pokemon that you caught?"

"Actually, I didn't catch them. They decided to join me.", smiled Ash before throwing the pokeballs in the air, "Come on out, everyone!"

The fourteen pokeballs snapped open and a flash of light from each came out. These lights soon solidified into fourteen unexpected pokemon. They were Ho-oh, Lugia, Jirachi, Latias, Azelf, Manaphy, Giratina, Darkrai, Shaymin, Victini, Zekrom, Kyurem, Keldeo and Meloetta. The bigger ones materialised outside the fence while the smaller ones, no bigger than Snorlax, materialised inside the garden.

Immediately, Manaphy, Shaymin, Latias, Keldeo, Jirachi, Victini and Meloetta all sped in Ash's direction. As they collided with their friend, Ash fell off his chair under all the weight. They all hugged him with delight, happy to see him after so long.

"_Papa, it's really you. I'm so happy we are together again.", _said Manaphy in tears of joy.

"_It's so good to see you again, Ash.", _said Latias while still hugging Ash.

"_Ash! Great to see you in good shape, buddy.",_ said Keldeo.

"_Friend Ash, it has been a while. It is joyous to see you again", _squeaked out Jirachi.

"_Nice to see you again, Ash. Do you have any macaroons on you?", _asked Victini.

Meloetta spoke next. "_It is so good to see you after all this time, Ash."_

"_It's good top have you back to your old self, Ash."_, said Shaymin

"It's great to see you all too.", said Ash, "It's great to see you in dreams, but it's even better to see you in reality."

However, Delia, Professor Oak and Ash's pokemon were completely open-mouthed and speechless. They could not believe that in those fourteen pokeballs were fourteen different Legendaries that they helped over the years. No-one saw Ash capture them, so they were all really confused how Ash has them.

"Oh. My. Goodness.", stuttered Professor Oak, " Ash, would you mind explaining why you have fourteen legendary pokemon that you never told us about and how did you catch them?"

"Ok, but I'll introduce the them to you first,", said Ash, "Everyone, this is my mother and Professor Oak."

The legendary pokemon all gave their greetings, but when Latias shook Delia's hand, it felt like lukewarm and lovely.

Ash and Pikachu turned to each other. They were the only ones who knew about the dream and the truth. Ash then turned to Professor Oak and Delia while Pikachu turned to the pokemon.

"Well, as for your explanation, Professor, I didn't really catch them. What really happened was…", began Ash.

"Pika Pikapi Pikachu Chu Pika Pika Chupi", explained Pikachu to the others.

xxxxx

Unbeknownst to them, three figures were watching the whole thing unfold from the top of a cliff through binoculars. It was Team Rocket.

"Guys, are yous seein' what I'm seein'?", said a relatively shocked Meowth.

"I do, Meowth, The twerp has legendary pokemon with him and the other pokemon didn't know about it. And if I'm not mistaken, that must be the same Meloetta that we tried to capture.", said Jessie, "We should try to steal them."

"There's no way that's happening, Jessie. ", said Kaleb, "after all, the only stuff we have is this communication gear and laptop. I suggest we call the boss and tell him."

Jessie sighed. "Alright, but one day, we will have those legendary pokemon. Mark my words, twerp."

xxxxx

When Ash and Pikachu had finished explaining to everyone why the Legendaries are here, they were all very surprised and shocked. These were all the Legendaries that they knew the best or had grown a strong friendship with. Giratina also explained to Professor Oak and Delia about Ash's dream and how they agreed to go with him on his journey. Ash now decided to tell the complete truth about what he had done in his travels. He told Professor Oak and his mother his conflicts with Team Plasma, Zero, Phantom the Pirate and all other villains he had faced in his travels. Professor Oak was speechless, but Delia was crying. Not because she was sad with him because he would've died, but because she was crying because she now knew he son kept on risking his life to do the right thing and help others.

"Ash, do you have any idea how depressed I would've been if you went into one of these conflicts and…never came out again alive?", asked Delia sternly through tears.

"I do, Mom. But I was only doing the right thing to save them like I helped to rescue others.", answered Ash, "but if I believed in myself, I would always make it through."

Delia hugged her son tightly, still in tears, but now smiling. "You remind me so much of your father. He was almost the same as you. He would risk his life to do something important and come back out alive in the end. I'm not asking you to stop doing these good deeds for others, but try to consider what would happen if…you didn't make it."

"Mom, ", answered Ash, "I always think about that, no matter what."

Delia let go of Ash and smiled. "Thank you, sweetie your father would be very proud of you."

Professor Oak, on the other hand, was zooming from one legendary pokemon to another, examining them with keen eyes. This really creeped out Manaphy when the Professor was staring at him, but he didn't burst into tears.

"Ash, I still can't believe you have so many legendary pokemon who want to travel with you. You are a very lucky young man to have such powerful and extremely rare pokemon.", said Professor Oak as he made his way back to the table.

"Thanks, Professor,", replied Ash as he went to the Legendaries, "if you guys are hungry, would you like some food?"

Some of the Legendaries refused the offer, but Manaphy, Meloetta, Keldeo, Shaymin, Latias, Victini and Jirachi's bellies were grumbling for some food. Ash went inside and came out with some plates and put some leftover pokemon food in them. He grabbed a salad sandwich for Keldeo since he liked the food that he had with Ash and company when he first met them. Kyurem got some leftover Snorlax food that instantly filled him after a few. Ash's pokemon introduced themselves to the Legendaries, but some were already familiar with them since they met before.

And then everyone dug into their meals. Ash talked more about his adventures with his family while the pokemon chatted away the Legendaries and each other. Sceptile was even getting along with Darkrai, since he had defeated the one that Tobias owned in the Sinnoh League. Zekrom began telling Pikachu that he would begin teaching him how to unlock the energy he has been granted and how to master Bolt Strike and Fusion Bolt at the duration of the journey.

Professor Oak looked like he had been thinking while he was eating, and he decided to speak up. "Ash, if this Jirachi is the very same Jirachi that you met back in Hoenn, how is it awake now? Normally he would be asleep for a thousand years."

"That's an interesting question, Professor. I'll ask him.", replied Ash as he turned to Jirachi, "Hey, Jirachi?"

"_Yes, Ash?", _answered Jirachi.

"I forget to ask you. It hasn't been one thousand years yet. How did you get yourself to wake up after only a few years?", said Ash in wonder.

"_Well, Ash, my kind do sleep for a thousand years before waking up again, but there is another way that we can force ourselves awake for as long as we need. The planet houses a specific energy called the Ilumina Force that can affect the normal life cycle of a Jirachi."_, explained Jirachi, "_We simply feed on it and the more we consume, the longer we can stay awake for. This happening is extremely rare for Jirachis and the planet creates more of this energy everyday than a single Jirachi can ever feed on."_

Professor Oak had been listening to the whole thing and had been taking notes on a small pad of paper. "Truly fascinating, Jirachi. This is to be a great new topic for a new paper. You don't mind do you, Jirachi?"

"_Not at all.",_ replied Jirachi.

Suddenly, a bright light appeared in the middle of the garden. It soon died down to reveal another legendary pokemon, Mewtwo.

"_Mewtwo? What are you doing here?"_, asked Latias.

"_I have come here with a message for Ash,"_, replied Mewtwo before turning to Ash, "_Hello, Ash."_

"Hey,Mewtwo.", said Ash, "How's everything going for you and the other clone pokemon?"

"_Not bad, I must admit. We seemed to have gotten along with normal pokemon in the Hoenn region and there have been no disruptions from Team Rocket whatsoever.", _said Mewtwo, "_I'm sorry I couldn't join you, but maybe I'll help you in the future."_

"That's Ok, Mewtwo.", replied Ash, "Now, what was the message that you wanted to tell me about?"

"_Are you familiar with May's Blaziken and Glaceon?", _asked Mewtwo.

Ash went a little dark when he heard that name, but he didn't have anything against the two pokemon mentioned. "What about them?"

"_They wish to join your team as well as Buneary and Axew.", _replied Mewtwo, "_I have been watching them for a little while now and they have made their decisions to get away from her because they don't agree with what she and the others said about you yesterday."_

"Are they trustworthy?", asked Ash.

"_They are. I have spoken to them and I asked them how they can be trusted. Glaceon said that Pikachu was one of her best friends and Blaziken said that Sceptile was one of his most trusty companions throughout Hoenn and Kanto."_

Sceptile and Pikachu were surprised by this. Glaceon and Blaziken had to be two of May's most trusted pokemon. They would never leave her. But it was true that the they were great friends and the story did make sense.

"Ok, everyone,", said Ash to his pokemon, "Should we allow them into our team?"

They roared in agreement. Since they seemed convinced with Mewtwo's story, it was only fair to give them a chance.

"Ok, Mewtwo. Everyone here agrees.", Ash said to Mewtwo, "Did you tell them where they should meet us?"

"_I did. There is a pokemon contest tomorrow in Viridian City and I told them to meet you in the northern outskirts of the city when the event finishes.", _answered Mewtwo, "_I'll go inform them. See you another time, Ash."_

"See you later.", replied Ash. The same light appeared from before, but this time, Mewtwo was gone when it died down.

"Well, Ash, it looks like your team is going to get even bigger.", said Professor Oak, "Pretty soon, you might even have the biggest team the world has ever seen."

xxxxx

After about half an hour, lunchtime was over. The pokemon had finished their meals and Ash helped Professor Oak to gather up their bowls back into the cupboards. Delia was washing the dishes in the kitchen with Mr. Mime at her side. Manaphy stayed with Ash the whole time since he was his father and because it has been a long time since they saw each other.

"_Papa, can I ask you a question?", _asked Manaphy.

"Sure, Manaphy. Ask away.", replied Ash as he got the last food bowls in the cupboard. He then went outside to clear the table.

"_Do you think, now that May is not my mama anymore, that we will find a new mama someday?", _said Manaphy in a shy tone. He didn't want to mention his former mother's name.

That was a question Ash had not yet considered. May was no longer his friend or Manaphy's mother and he was not so sure there was any other girl he could trust. But thinking back to what Celebi said in his dream, there was likely a girl he could still trust and perhaps…love.

"Yes, Manaphy. I'm sure we will find a new Mama on our journey.", replied Ash as Manaphy suddenly hugged him.

"And I hope that Manaphy's new 'Mama' could be my future daughter-in-law.", said a giggling Delia as she stepped outside. It turns out she had been listening to the whole thing.

"Mom! Not in front of the pokemon.", cried Ash. The pokemon and Professor Oak burst out into laughter.

"_Hero of Ideals, she does have a point, you know. Someday you might find a significant other for your life.", _said Zekrom while still laughing.",said Zekrom while still laughing.

"_Yeah, Ash_.", agreed Jirachi.

"Well, Ash. Everything is all taken care of now.", said Professor Oak, "The only thing left to do now is…for you to begin your journey."

"You're right, Professor.", said Ash as he put the small box of pokeballs on the grass, "Guys, I can now carry an unlimited amount of pokemon with me thanks to Professor Oak's Micro-Dex, you can all come with me together."

All the pokemon cheered in delight. Ash then began to return them to their respective pokeballs, but he decided to let Manaphy, Buneary, Axew and Meloetta stay out with Pikachu. After that, he went to his backpack and stuffed the pokeballs into it, but there was still some space left for other things.

When the humans and Pokemon came out side of the Ketchum residence, Ash's mother stopped him.

"Honey, I know you are getting all grown up, but I still want to tell you one more thing before you go.", said Delia sternly.

Ash had an idea of what it was, but he decided to let his mom say it. "Sure, Mom, What is it?"

"Please make sure that you change your underwear daily.", said Delia with a giggle.

Ash sweatdropped as the pokemon and Professor gave out a huge laugh. Then he remembered something he was going to ask. "Meloetta, since the Legendaries were all here, how come they didn't attract any attention from the other people?"

"_When Darkrai came out earlier, he used Hypnosis to put the entire town to sleep except us. They should be waking up soon.", _explained Meloetta_._

"Oh, well that explains it.", said Ash.

"Well my boy, it looks like your new journey begins. I've decided to give you some spare pokeballs so that you can catch any pokemon before you get to Viridian City.", said Professor Oak as he handed Ash six fresh pokeballs. He also gave Ash Pidgeot's and Butterfree's old pokeballs, just in case.

"Thanks, Professor. I'll be sure to call you whenever I can. I'll stay safe and so will everybody else.", said Ash to his mentor and mother.

Delia suddenly ran up to her son and hugged him tightly in tears. "Ash, no matter what anyone else tells you, you will always be the best Pokemon Master to me, Professor Oak and all those who still care."

"Thank you, Mom. So, this is good-bye for now, but I'll be sure to visit soon.", said Ash as he was released from the hug.

"We'll be seeing you soon to, Ash, my boy.", said Professor Oak.

"Good-bye, sweetie. I'll see you soon and perhaps your girlfriend.", said Delia.

Ash blushed at this and started to run towards Viridian Forest with his pokemon behind him. He knew he wouldn't let his family and pokemon down, so starting today, no more fooling around. He waved back at his family, who waved back.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: A Contest, Former Friends and New Friends

As Ash runs through Viridian Forest, along with Pikachu, Axew, Buneary, Manaphy and Meloetta, he begins to think where to start in the Kanto region for his new journey. He had already defeated the Kanto Battle Frontier, so that only left the Kanto Grand Festival and the Kanto League. But since there was a contest in Viridian City, he might as well start there and work his way up. He will also have to ask the Nurse Joy in the next Pokemon Centre if he has to get new badges to compete in the league.

But right now, he was focused on getting to the lake that Giratina described in the northern side of the forest. There was a dirt path in the forest which led north and Ash was beginning to hear running water. That meant there was a stream nearby and that had to mean he was getting close to the lake. All of a sudden, he saw a large flock of Pidgeot flying overhead.

"That flock of Pidgeot looks familiar somehow, but where have I seen them before?", said Ash to himself. The other pokemon saw the flock too, but it seemed familiar to Pikachu as well.

"Pika Pika", said Pikachu in wonder.

"_Hey, Buneary, since we are on the new journey, I guess this means we are a couple now.",_ said Pikachu to Buneary.

Buneary suddenly leapt up and tackled Pikachu to the ground from Ash's shoulder, nuzzling him on the cheek. "_Oh thank you, Pikachu. I know we'll be great together forever."_

"Alright, everyone. Let's get back on our goal. Manaphy, you can take a ride on my head. You look like you're tired. Meloetta, why don't you sit on my other shoulder?", said Ash. Manaphy jumped on his head in delight while Meloetta sat on Ash's right shoulder. Axew decided to leap on Ash's backpack, but Buneary stayed on the ground, still not tired from hopping.

Even with all the weight, Ash continued towards the source of the water sound. He went by a tree that had Kakuna hanging from it, but he avoided it with caution and care. He didn't want a swarm of newly evolved Beedrill chasing him again. There were some other trees where some Metapod were resting upon, but he passed them too.

At last, they arrived at a clearing. There was a beautiful waterfall streaming down a cliff and the water was running into a lake in the large meadow. A river stream was connected to the lake and it was running into the distance. Ash was sure he never seen this part of Viridian Forest before.

"I think this is the place. I don't really see any other waterfalls with lakes.", said Ash to himself. Suddenly, he saw some shapes in the distance that were near the lake, but they were too far away to see.

"_Ash, I think those shapes you saw in the distance could be the pokemon who are waiting for you.", said Meloetta._

"Alright!,", exclaimed Ash, "I can't wait to see who is there. Can't you, guys?"

The pokemon gave out some cheers of happiness. They all then began to sprint towards the waterfall. As they got closer, the shapes started to become more clear. The gang could already begin to make out a Lapras that was in the lake, a Larvitar on the ground and a floating Butterfree.

"Hey!", called out Ash to the pokemon. Some of the pokemon turned towards Ash. They instantly recognized him and ran back at him with great speed and happiness. When they collided with him, Ash crashed to the ground behind him under the pressure of the pokemon. He identified the pokemon as a Spoink, Hippopotas, Riolu, Venipede, Jigglypuff and Zorua. The pokemon that Ash was carrying jumped off him just in time and were now laughing.

"_Hey, Ash. It's been too long.", _said the Zorua.

Instantly, Ash knew that voice. "Hey, I remember you. You're the Zorua that I helped back in the Sinnoh region."

"_That's right, Ash. I'm glad you remember me.", _said Zorua.

"_Zorua, it that really you? How are you?", _asked Pikachu.

"_Yep, Pikachu. It's great to see you too.", _replied Zorua.

As Ash sat up, he took a look at the other pokemon, but he didn't seem to be familiar with them. "Hey, everyone. You seem familiar to me too, but I don't remember where. Why don't we go to the lake so I can get to know you all and the others?"

They all agreed. They got off Ash and began to walk back to the waterfall. Ash and the others followed them and they got closer to the waterfall. There were some other pokemon waiting there as well. There was a Pidgeot, Lapras, Butterfree, Larvitar, Togepi, Spiritomb and a Shieldon. Ash instantly recognised Larvitar, Pidgeot, Butterfree and Lapras.

"Pidgeot, Lapras, Butterfree, Larvitar!", called Ash as he got closer to them, "It's me, Ash."

Like the other pokemon, they tackled Ash to the ground at the edge of the river. Larvitar hugged Ash while Butterfree, Pidgeot and Lapres nuzzled.

"You guys all look in great shape. How have you been?", asked Ash.

"Pidgeo!", screeched Pidgeot.

"Freeee Eeeee", said Butterfree.

"La Lapras.", said Lapras.

"Lar Lar Larvitar.", squeaked out Larvitar.

"_They said they have been doing great, Ash.", _said Zorua.

"Thanks for the translation, Zorua.", replied Ash, "Pidgeot, I saw a flock of other Pidgeot earlier. Was it the same flock that you have been guarding when I let you go?"

"Pidgeo Pidgeot Pid Pidge Piiii.", replied Pidgeot.

"_Pidgeot says that when you left, he began to train the other Pidgeotto and Pidgey. They eventually became stronger to individually defend themselves. When they all evolved into Pidgeot, the Fearow and Spearow all fled to someplace else since they didn't stand a chance against such odds. And if there were to be anymore future enemies, the flock can protect themselves while Pidgeot can be with you.", _translated Zorua.

"Awesome, Pidgeot! That's a great job.", congratulated Ash. The bird pokemon gave a happy chirp in response.

Ash then turned to Lapras. She looked a lot different than how he saw her last time. She used to be a young child, but now Lapras had grown up into a beautiful young adult. It was a majestic sight to see

"Wow, Lapras. You've grown up so much. You look like the biggest of your kind that I've ever seen.", said Ash.

"Lap Laaaa Lapras Lap Lapra.", said Lapras.

"_Lapras says that she had shown her heard that there are some humans they could trust, and that includes you. She learnt more about the world while she was traveling and it was very fascinating. But when she heard about what your former friends did to you, she desperately wanted to re-join you on your journey. Her herd respected her decision and allowed her to go, as long as you take good care of her.", _said Zorua.

Ash gave out a small laugh. "Don't worry, Lapras. I'll make sure you will get the best treatment, just like I first met you." Lapras nuzzled him on the cheek in happiness.

Ash gave a quick look around before facing Butterfree. "Butterfree, I don't see your mate anywhere. Do you know where he is? Did something happen."

Butterfree gave a look of sadness before answering. "Freeee Eeeeeeeee Reeeee."

"_Butterfree is saying that she was really happy with her other and they had two Caterpie who are now Butterfree and out somewhere in the world, possible with their own true love. But when she was told that you were abandoned by your friends, she knews he had to go back and told her husband. But he didn't want her to leave since they were all happy together. Butterfree offered him that he could go with her to be with you, but he said he was free and wanted to stay that way. He then tried to force her to stay, but then Butterfree said that she loved you more she loved him. This angered him and he went away, not wanting to see her again. Butterfree was heartbroken, but she was soon back in high spirits when she saw you again."_, said Zorua.

Ash was shocked. When he released Butterfree to be with her mate, he was happy for her but was also heartbroken to see his first pokemon leave him. Now here she is, here because she sacrificed her love for the one who made her what she is.

"Butterfree, I'm sorry for what happened. But you didn't have to come with me if you didn't want to. You looked so happy with him and I didn't want to get in the middle of it. Your life with him seemed more important than you being with me.", said Ash with tears starting to form in his eyes.

"Freeeee Eeeee Reeeeee.", said Butterfree.

"_Butterfree says that she always remembered you everyday of her life. You were more important to her more than anyone else, even her mate. If there was a time that he wouldn't respect her opinion, she would leave him and look for you, no matter how long it took.", _said Zorua.

Ash leaned forward and gave Butterfree a gentle hug. Butterfree returned the hug by wrapping her wings around him.

"Frrreeee Reeeee.", said Butterfree as they let go of each other.

"_Butterfree says this wasn't your fault and she is just glad that she is together with you again. That is all that matters.", _said Zorua.

"Thanks, Butterfree.", said Ash. He then turned to Larvitar.

"Larvitar, you look in excellent shape. How has life been for you and your mother at Mount Silver?", asked Ash with much enthusiasm. It was true Larvitar looked a bit bigger.

"Lar Larvitar Vitar Larvi Tar.", said Larvitar.

Zorua translated for Ash, "_He says that life has been great. There has been complete peace and tranquillity on Mount Silver and there were no poachers. He told his mother about his adventures with you and she was happy to hear you have been taking care for him. Larvitar has even begun to teach itself new moves and how to protect himself when his mother is not around. When Giratina told him about what happened to you, he desperately wanted to go back to you because you can make him the best he can be. His mother didn't have a problem just as long as you took care of him, since she already trusts you."_

"Thanks, Zorua,", said Ash, "Larvitar, it was great for you to join me." Larvitar gave Ash a hug of happiness.

He then turned to the other pokemon. "So, guys, you guys look like you all know me, but I seemed to forget you. Who would like to re-introduce themselves?"

"_I want to, Ash.", _said a voice in his head. Ash looked into the direction of the sound source and was soon facing Riolu.

"Are you using telepathy to talk to me, Riolu?", asked Ash.

"_No, I'm communicating to you through aura. You can hear me because you can use aura too.", _replied Riolu.

"Oh, yeah. I guess I can use aura since I have the same aura as Sir Aaron.", said Ash to himself.

"_That's right. Now this should be able to remind you of who I am.",_ said Riolu. He then performed Aura sphere, which he launched at the closest tree and it exploded on impact.

"A Riolu that can use Aura Sphere?", said Ash while thinking before he suddenly remembered, "Wait a minute! You're the Riolu from the Sinnoh region. I helped to save you from Hunter J and return you to your owner, right?"

"_Yes, that's me.", _said Riolu happily, "_I also have a message to you from my keeper."_

Riolu then handed a piece of folded up paper to Ash. Ash unfolded the paper for it to reveal a handwritten letter. He soon began to read its contents.

_Ash,_

_The last time we met, I had not properly introduced myself. My name is Hanzo Dalores. I thank you again for saving Riolu from his captors. During the time you were with him, he has formed a strong friendship with you. I must admit something when Riolu told me that you had the same aura as the legendary Sir Aaron, I was quite surprised to see another future Aura Guardian like Riley._

_Giratina has told me and Riolu about what happened between you and your friends, and I must say that I am truly disappointed in them. Riolu, having the strong friendship with you, wanted desperately to find you. I agreed to this since he has finished all of his aura training at my homestead. I also found out that besides you having aura, you haven't had the proper training of how to fully utilize it yet. Another reason why I decided to let Riolu go with you is because so he can teach you how to use aura. You look worthy to be Riolu's new trainer and aura student, so I ask you to take good care of Riolu and he will serve you well. As well as that, good luck on your future journeys and aura training. I hope we can meet again soon._

_Kind regards,_

_Hanzo_

When Ash finished reading, he smiled. He can finally learn on how to use his aura with Riolu as his teacher. As he folded the paper again, he noticed a minimised pokeball attached to the paper. This had to be Riolu's new pokeball.

"Well, Riolu, thanks for being on my team. And I'm really looking forward to all the aura training.", said Ash.

"_You're welcome, Ash."_, replied Riolu, "_And since you are my new trainer, I should start calling you "master, Master."_

This was something that Ash didn't like. He didn't want to be called that since it makes him feel more superior. He kneeled down to Riolu's head height and spoke.

"Riolu, just because Lucario's call their trainers or Aura Guardian friends 'master', doesn't mean you should. In my team, no-one is inferior or superior. No-one is smarter or dumber. We are all equal in everything. So I'm not your master. I'm your friend until the very end.", said Ash.

Ash then embraced Riolu in a hug, who returned the hug with tears of trust and happiness in his eyes. Ash grabbed a handkerchief from his pocket and used it to wipe the tears from Riolu's cheeks. "And besides, you are going to be my teacher a majority of the time in aura. Maybe I'll start calling you 'master'".

"_That won't be necessary, Ash, ",_ replied Riolu as he let go of Ash, "_How about we meet the rest of the pokemon here before we go anywhere else?"_

"Good idea, Riolu.", said Ash as they turned to the rest of the pokemon. He was eager to meet them all again.

xxxxx

Meanwhile in the forest, the Rocket trio were hiding in the trees. They had just finished observing Ash with the other pokemon and were just contacting Giovanni to tell them about this, and also yet to tell them about Ash having legendary pokemon.

Soon, the laptop's screen showed the face of the Team Rocket leader. "Yes, Jessie, Kaleb and Meowth? Is there any new information that you have on me about the boy?"

"Yes, sir,", said Kaleb, "He has left home to begin his new journey and we are still in pursuit of him. We have not been detected yet."

"Good. Anything else?", asked Giovanni.

"Yes,", said Meowth, "the twerp also has fourteen legendary pokemon in his possession. They are the ones that know him the best."

At that moment, Giovanni almost fell out of his chair in the background. This was unbelievable to him. First they tell him Ash is The Chosen One and now they tell him he has fourteen legendary pokemon? He had to know more.

"I want you to tell me exactly which ones he has, you three.", said Giovanni in his stern voice.

"He is in possession of Lugia, Ho-oh, Latias, Jirachi, Manaphy, Darkrai, Giratina, Shaymin, Azelf, Victini, Zekrom, Keldeo, Kyurem and Meloetta.", said Jessie quickly.

"This is most interesting.", said Giovanni, "Where is the boy now?"

"Currently, he is in a clearing in the northern side of Viridian Forest. He has just met up with some of the pokemon he had released and some pokemon that he perhaps possibly knew on his past journeys. There is a Pidgeot, Butterfree, Larvitar, Lapras, Venipede, Riolu, Jigglypuff, Zorua, Togepi, Spiritomb, Spoink, Hippopotas and Shieldon."

"Well, this kid's team is certainly growing at a huge rate.", said Giovanni, "Good job. Keep on following the boy, but don't let him know you are watching him. If he gets that Riolu on his team, he might be able to sense you through its aura. I is best if you keep a big distance so you are out of range."

"Yes, sir.", said the trio before the screen went black.

xxxxx

Ash was almost finished get reacquainted with the pokemon he met. It turns out he either met them once or twice during his journeys.

The Hippopotas turned out to be the very same one that Ash had met in the Sinnoh region twice. He last saw him with his friend, Hippowdon in a small sandy desert. Ash didn't even think that Hippopotas still remembered him, but he did become friends with him, so it seemed to be logical for Hippopotas to be here.

The Venipede was actually the very same one that Ash and company met back in Castelia City in the Unova region. Venipede was found hurt in the city's sewers, but Ash helped him out. Ash soon remembered Venipede when he gave him what seemed to be a piece of worn out fabric, but it turned out to be Venipede's worn out bandage. Ash didn't think Venipede even cared about him, but it looks like he earned his trust and his respect.

When Ash first saw Spoink, there was something really familiar about him. Then Ash recognized it instantly as the Spoink he met twice back in the Hoenn region. Spoink kept on losing the pink pearl that was on his head all the time, but Ash and company helped it twice to get it back.

Jigglypuff decided to introduce itself to Ash first. It showed him a small stick which was actually a marker with a mini microphone cap on it. This made Ash realise this was the Jigglypuff that kept on following him through Kanto, the Orange Islands, Johto and a bit in Hoenn. Its singing kept on putting everybody to sleep and that angered Jigglypuff so it drew on its victim's faces. Ash said that if Jigglypuff can keep its singing under control and not do it at the wrong time, it can be well recognised the way it wants to be. Jigglepuff agreed to this.

Shieldon was actually one of the herd of shieldon that Ash helped to protect against Hunter J alongside Gary, a Pokemon Ranger and Professor Rowan. In fact, it was the one that got separated from its group and had spent more time with Ash than the rest. Shieldon still remembered Ash to this day and now wanted to return the favour for saving him by joining his team.

All that was left now was Spiritomb and Togepi.

"Alright. I don't think I have met you before. Can you remind me if possible?", asked Ash.

"Toge Toge Piii", said Togepi as if closed its eyes and covered its face with its tiny arms. When Togepi removed its arms, there was a completely different face that looked very…evil. Ash instantly recognised that face anywhere.

"Wait a second! You're the Togepi that I met back in Sinnoh. You kept on tricking Team Rocket and me into repetitive traps in their building.", exclaimed Ash with a shocked look on his face.

"Toge Piii", chirped out Togepi as its face returned to normal. Ash then turned to Spiritomb.

"Then this must mean that you are the very same Spiritomb that I also met in Sinnoh. You are the one who was locked away in a keystone near a village and was defeated by someone who fitted my description, aren't you?", asked Ash in a voice with some cowardice in it.

"Spiritomb.", replied Sprirtomb.

Ash knew these were two of the pokemon that he knew in a bad way. Togepi kept on lying and trapping Ash back at Team Rocket's Base, while Spiritomb tried to harm Ash because it believed the lies it was told by Team Rocket. He decided to have a small talk to them to make some things change for the better.

"Ok, you two. I just want to tell you something,", began Ash, "We may have gotten on the right foot when we first met, but I really want to turn our relationship for the better. Togepi, you may have been a bit evil in the past, but I can help teach you about respecting others and knowing the right time to be your old self. I hope this can mean we can be friends. Spiritomb, when Team Rocket told you that I was related to the man who imprisoned you all those years ago, I want you to know that they were lying. The only reason why I had a Pikachu that reminded you of him was only by pure coincidence and I'm not related to that man in any way. I hope that you can understand this and we can put our past behind us and hope for a better trainer-pokemon relationship."

Togepi and Spiritomb were surprised by Ash's speech. They had caused him some problems in the past, but now he was willing to make sure that all gets forgotten and replaced by a healthy friendship. They knew what his friends had said about him, thanks to Giratina, and they decided to help him out as a way of apologising.

"Toge Toge Piiii.", said Togepi, giving out a happy chirp and jumping on Ash lap.

"Spiri Tomb.", said Spiritomb. It looked like it now trusted Ash.

All the pokemon then got in a group in front of Ash, waiting for what to do next. They also had already gotten reacquainted with the pokemon Ash was travelling with already by his side.

"_Ash, now that we are all remembering each other, what do we do now?", _asked Riolu.

"Well, if you guys are coming with me, then our next destination is Viridian City. There is a Contest being held there tomorrow and I'm looking forward to it. As well as that, I need to pick up a Blaziken and a Glaceon that belong to one of my former friends. They didn't agree with what she said about me and they are willing to join our team.", explained Ash.

"_That's great news, Ash. We'll see how they like it when someone betrays them for a change." _, said Zorua, _"And besides, we are all wanting to come with you, since that was why we were all called here in the first place."_

"Great! Alright, the road ahead of us is going to be a long one. So are you all with me?", called out Ash.

The pokemon all cheered in response, willing to stick with their new trainer. "That's great guys. Then I suggest we get there before sundown." Soon, Ash returned Pidgeot, Butterfree, Lapras and Riolu to their old pokeballs.

But then he realised that he had six spare pokeballs while there were stil nine uncaught pokemon. "Guys, I only have six pokeballs that are empty and there are nine of you. Three of you will have to go with me until I can get some more from the Viridian City Pokemart.", clarified Ash.

Immediately, Zorua, Larvitar and Jigglypuff went up to Ash. "_We three want to go with you, Ash."_

Ash nodded to this. He then tapped the six pokeballs on Spiritomb, Togepi, Shieldon, Venipede, Spoink and Hippopotas. They all then went off with a _ding_, signalling their capture. Ash then turned to Buneary, Meloetta, Axew and Manaphy. "Guys, I think it would be a good idea if you got in your pokeballs too. It isn't a good idea if we attract too much attention, especially from the traitors."

They all nodded. They all got sucked into their pokeballs and Manphy was last.

"_Ok, Papa.", _said Manaphy before he was lastly sucked into his own. Ash then truned to the remaining three.

"Ok. Let's get going, guys.", said Ash.

Larvitar jumped on Ash's backpack, Zorua got on his left shoulder and Jigglypuff, being very light, got on Ash's head. He then began to run towards the direction of Viridian City.

xxxxx

At Viridian City, the gang of former friends were doing their own business in the city. Brock was at the library studying about pokemon care, May was eating some noodles at a fast food restaurant, Max was battling some random trainer on the Pokemon Centre battlefield; he had just started his journey a few months ago, Cilan was shopping for some food and Iris was helping Dawn to pick out a new dress for tomorrow's contest form a medium-sized shop called Co-ordinator's Contest Corner. She was having trouble deciding whether to buy a blue or purple dress.

"Y'know, since you are going to be using Piplup in the Contest, I suggest that you should buy the blue dress. It matches his colours.", informed Iris.

"Why didn't I think of that? Thanks a lot, Iris.", replied Dawn as she took the dress off the rack and carried it to the checkout desk, "This is my first official contest in Kanto, so I hope I can make a good first impression."

While the clerk was busy handling the dress, Iris smiled. "Don't worry, Dawn. You and Piplup are going to be great out there. I'll be cheering for you all the way."

As they exited the shop after paying for the desk, Dawn replied. "Thanks, Iris. But I have a strange feeling that someone completely unexpected will steal that spotlight from me?"

"Like I said, Dawn, don't worry.", reassured Iris.

Xxxxx

It had taken him about an hour, but Ash and his pokemon were finally at Viridian City. It was just as he remembered it and it brought back memories. When he was going to get his eighth badge from the Viridian City Gym to finally qualify for the Kanto League, he was surprised to see that Team Rocket were the gym leaders. He had fought a fair fight and defeated them, but they cheated by not giving him the badge. He sent them off flying at the end and claimed his rightful badge. Also a few years later, he was asked by Scott, the owner of the Battle Frontier, to compete in the new Kanto Battle Frontier.

"Ah, Viridian City. This place brings back memories, doesn't it Pikachu?", asked Ash to his best friend.

"Pika Pikachu.", replied Pikachu.

"_Ash, why is this place so familiar to you?",_ asked Zorua.

"I'll explain it to you. How about we go to the nearby park so I can explain?", asked Ash.

"_Ok, Ash. Let's go.", _replied Zorua as they went to the park's location.

When they arrived, they got quite the scene. The whole place was beautiful. Lawns were freshly cut, some wild pokemon were present and were playing with some children, some family picnics were taking place in some of the meadows and a few wild Poliwag were swimming in a small fountain. The gang decided to go to the fountain since there was a bench.

When they got there, they all sat down, wanting to take a break from all the traveling they did so far. As Ash was about to begin telling his past experiences in Viridian City, he got a little surprise from Pikachu.

"Pika Pika!", cried out Pikachu while pointing out towards something.

"What is it, buddy?", asked Ash while observing, "Is there something you want to show me?"

"Pika Pi!", said Pikachu while still pointing. Ash turned to the direction of Pikachu's pointing finger and found himself looking at…a girl.

But this girl was one that Ash was familiar with. She herself had peach coloured hair with two swirly pigtails on each side of her head, each with a green ribbon. Her eyes were a crimson colour and she was wearing a pink skirt that went to her knees and a light blue shirt long-sleeve shirt that was under a snow white thin coat. She was also petting her Cave Pokemon, Gabite.

This was none other than Dawn's archrival, Ursula. Ash had known Ursula during his Sinnoh journeys. He only saw her a few times during contests and the Sinnoh Grand Festival. She didn't act badly towards him, but she pestered Dawn to no end, continuously calling her Dee Dee. He might as well say 'hi'.

"Hey, Ursula!", called out Ash while standing, hoping to get her attention.

The girl turned towards the direction of the voice and saw the raven-haired trainer. At first she was a bit confused at how he knew her, but the memories came rushing back to her. This was the same boy who had travelled with Dawn. She also saw him compete in the Sinnoh League, seeing him knock out the Darkrai and Latios that belonged to Tobias.

"I recognise you. You're Ash Ketchum, aren't you?", said Ursula as she stood up from her bench and ran to Ash. Her Gabite also remembered Ash and went with her.

"That's right. I'm glad you remembered me, even after all this time.", said Ash. Pikachu and the other pokemon scurried up to Ash.

"How can I forget the trainer who defeated both a Darkrai and a Latios at the Sinnoh League two years ago?", replied Ursula with a smile, "I watched your battle and I though that it was incredibly impressive."

"Thanks very much, Ursula.", said Ash while blushing, "So how are you, Ursula? Are you here to compete for the contest as well?"

Gabite and Pikachu seemed to remember each other. Pikachu introduced her to the other pokemon and they all seemed to get along well.

That's right, Ash. I'm also here to get an Earth Badge from the gym.", said Ursula, "I've decided to try out the Kanto League and see what it's like to be a trainer."

Ash was certainly confused by this. Ursula was known as a co-ordinator and he didn't ever think that she would ever want to be a trainer, since those are two completely different paths.

"I'm surprised that you want to compete in the league, Ursula.", said Ash, "What made you want do leagues while doing contests at the same time?"

"Well, one way to do well in contests is to make sure your moves and combo moves are as powerful as can be so they can be more appealing.", explained Ursula, " My pokemon didn't just have to practice moves. They have to be strong as well. I think the league is a great way to get my pokemon into great shape so it can test their strength. So the next time I face Dawn, I'll be sure to humiliate her. Speaking of her, where is she and that other guy you hang out with?"

At the mention of Brock and Dawn, Ash went completely silent as if it were something he just ate. He certainly hated them now and didn't want to talk about them.

"I don't really want to talk about it Ursula. Let's just say that my friendship with them is over forever.", said Ash glumly.

Ursula was surprised by this. She thought that Ash seemed close to those two, but now he has telling her he isn't friends with them anymore. She had to know more. Not because she forcing him to, but just because it seemed to make Ash look quite down.

"Why is that, Ash? What happened?", asked Ursula with concern in her voice.

"I really don't want to talk about it. You might think exactly what they think about me if I told you.", said Ash.

"Come on, Ash. You can tell me what happened. You hate Dee Dee, I hate Dee Dee. We have something in common. I promise I won't think any different of you or laugh at you.", said Ursula.

Ash still wasn't sure. He looked back at his pokemon. They nodded to their trainer that he should tell her what happened. He faced back and took a beep breath.

"Ok, Ursula,", began Ash, "It all started when I…"

And he told her everything. He told her how he overheard what his friends say about him, how he fell into depression, the comfort from his family and pokemon and how he will be not only a trainer on his new journey, but also a co-ordinator just to beat Dawn and May at their own game. He didn't mention the dream he had or the legendary pokemon he had with him. She wasn't ready to hear this since he didn't fully trust her. Ursula was absolutely shocked at his story and she felt sorry for him.

"I always thought that Dee Dee was somewhat of a liability, copycat and freeloader.", said Ursula with a small hint of rage in her voice, "and that guy Brock was always creepy since he flirted with girls. They have no idea what kind of dumb mistake they had done abandoning you, since you kept them going. If there's anybody who's pathetic,, it's those losers."

"Yeah. Ursula, would you mind if I showed you some friends of mine, but don't tell Dawn or Iris?", asked Ash in a nervous tone.

"Sure, Ash. Why would I want to talk to Dee Dee about anything?", replied Ursula.

Ash grabbed Buneary and Axew's pokeballs out of his bag after checking that neither Dawn or Iris were present and threw them into the air. They both snapped open and released the white energy which then materialised into Buneary and Axew. Buneary recognised Ursula and stayed calm, knowing she is not as bad as Dawn.

"Hey, I don't know this green pokemon, but isn't this Dawn's Buneary?", asked Ursula with confusion.

"She is. In fact, Axew, which is the name of this dragon-type pokemon, used to belong to another one of the traitors. These two didn't agree with what Dawn, Iris and the others said about me. So they abandoned them to become part of my team. Buneary has a huge crush on Pikachu while Axew is best friends and sparring partner of another one of my pokemon, Scraggy.", explained Ash.

"That serves them right. Now they will know how they like it when they get abandoned by their own pokemon. Also, I guess it explains why Buneary like Pikachu so much.", said Ursula. It was true that Buneary was actually kissing Pikachu on the cheek. Ash quickly returned her and Axew to their pokeballs in case Dawn or Iris showed up.

"Yeah. Well, Ursula, what are you going to do now?", asked Ash.

"I need to go get some things from Co-ordinator's Contest Corner before the contest starts. Also I need to book a room at the Pokemon Centre for the night. What about you?", said Ursual.

"I need to go to the Pokemart to get some new pokeballs for these three.", replied Ash, pointing at Zorua, Jigglypuff and Larvitar, "After that, I think I'll check out this place you are going to. I need to get some supplies since I just started co-ordinating."

"Ok.", said Ursula, "And Ash, could I ask of you a favour?"

"Sure, Ursula. What is it?", asked Ash.

"Do you think I can travel with you? I need some help getting around to the gyms in Kanto as well as contests.", asked Ursula in a small shy voice.

This took Ash aback. He never thought that Ursula would want to travel with him since she looked better on her own, but it was true that she might need help to get around Kanto and its Gyms. All of a sudden, he heard Lugia's voice in his head.

"_Chosen One, I sense that this girl means no harm to you or your new quest. She seems to support you in your time of need.", _said Lugia, "_Why don't we take her with us? She looks very trustworthy and seems to agree with you about hating your former friends And then when the time comes, you can show her to us."_

Ash thought of this for a moment before answering. "Ok, Ursula. You can come. I guess a new traveling companion isn't such a bad idea. Besides, since we practically have the same goals, perhaps we can help each other out on our journey."

"Thank you, Ash. I can teach you some things about co-ordinating while maybe you can teach me about gyms. But we can still be friends instead of rivals when we compete.", exclaimed Ursula happily. Ash nodded in agreement.

As the gang left the park, Ash began thinking of something. Since Ursula had the same goals as him, then maybe having her by his side isn't such a bad idea. She _was_ impressed when he defeated Latios and Darkrai and she respects him for it, so that means she appreciates him for skills and for who he is.

After they arrived and left the Pokemart, Ash tapped the three new pokeballs on Zorua, Larvitar and Jigglypuff. They then got sucked in and the pokeballs went off with a _ding_, signifying their capture. He also got six extra, just in case. Ursula was very surprised at why he had more than six pokeballs on him.

"Hey, Ash. Why is it that you have more than six pokeballs on you when an average trainer normally has six?", asked Ursula.

"Well, Ursula,", explained Ash, "since I'm going to go on a new journey, I might as well take all of my pokemon with me. Professor Oak removed the limiter on my Micro-Dex so that I can now carry as many pokemon as I want. I don't want to leave them out."

He then showed her his Micro-Dex that was on his wrist.

"Wow, Ash. Where did you get this?", asked Ursula in delight.

"Professor Oak gave it to me. It's the first of its kind and he wants me to test it out while out on the journey.", said Ash.

Soon they arrived at their destination, Co-ordinator's Contest Corner. It was a two-story red coloured corner shop that had a whit roof. A sign was hanging above the doorway with some silhouettes of people wearing contest outfits. Displays of costumes, pokeball capsules and posters were visible from the windows.

When they went inside, they got a very big surprise. The whole place was colourful with merchandise. There were racks of costumes waiting to be tried on and bought, capsule stickers on displays on walls, pokeball capsules on shelves and other things that co-ordinators would go crazy for.

"Well, Ash, what do you need to get from here? I think all I need is a new dress and some more capsule stickers.?, asked Ursula.

"I need a new outfit for special occasions, two pokeball capsules and a full set of capsule stickers.", replied Ash.

They both split up their own ways. Ash found himself a suit the included a white button-up shirt, black trousers with overalls, a red bowtie and a black coat with grey patches on the elbow sections. He also got two pokeball capsules, a set of over twenty capsule stickers and a pair of black shoes to go with the costume.

He was walking to the counter to pay for his things when he saw Ursula already there. She was holding a dress that was turquoise in colour and with a pair of pearl white gloves that went up to her forearm. There were also some capsule stickers resting on the desk, which were presumably hers.

"Hey, Ursula. I suppose you are finished with your shopping?", asked Ash.

"Yep, I'm all set now. All I have to do now is prepare for the contest and compete in my gym battle. Do you need the badge?", said Ursula.

"No. I already have this gym's badge. And in case you didn't know, the Viridian Gym uses Ground-type pokemon and they are normally three-on-three matches. Which pokemon are you going to use?", explained Ash.

"Well, now that you mention it, I think I'll use Vaporeon, Gabite and perhaps Grotle.", said Ursula.

"Wait, I didn't know you had a Grotle.", said Ash, part surprised.

"I got Turtwig as my starter pokemon when I began my journey. I used her in some of my contests, but now I use her rarely since she became slow when she evolved.", explained Ursula.

"Don't worry about that. With some proper training, I'm sure she will be faster, even in her slower form. I have a Torterra and he's not too slow in my opinion. In fact, Rock Polish is the only move that Torterras can learn to sharply increase their speed. Maybe we can teach my Torterra that and when Gortle evolves, we can teach her that too.", explained Ash.

"What a great idea, Ash. You are smarter than you look.", said Ursula with a giggle. Ash blushed.

When they left the shop after paying for their purchases, the clerk decided to speak up. "Hey, have a good day, lovebirds."

They both blushed and looked at each other. They have just become friends, but they didn't have a relationship that involved love…yet.

"Hey, thanks for sticking by me. It really means a lot to me.", said Ash.

"No problem. Compared to what they said, you're definitely no lousy trainer and you didn't do too badly at the Sinnoh Wallace Cup either. I think you'll make a great co-ordinator.", said Ursula, "And I hope, that along the way, you can prove them wrong and I can humiliate Dee Dee like she deserves with each other's help."

The rest of the afternoon went pretty smoothly. The gang didn't see the traitors even once and they were very happy with that. At one point, Ash decided he was to use Leavanny for this contest since he had moves that appealed greatly. They also got two official Contest Passes for Kanto so that they can officially enter Kanto Pokemon Contests.

When they went to the gym so that Ursula can get her badge, they found out there was a new gym leader named Terry, who did specialise in ground-type pokemon. He had an Onyx, Gliscor and Camerupt and they were his most toughest pokemon. The battle was a three-on-three and Ursula chose to go with her Vaporeon, Grotle and Gabite for the match. For the first round it was Onyx against Grotle. She defeated Onyx with much ease, but then Gabite was defeated by Gliscor with a single Guillotine attack. It was then Vaporeon against Camerupt and Vaporeon won since it had a double type advantage, but lost to Gliscor with another Guillotine. At the final battle, it was Grotle against Gliscor. Grotle got some good hits on Gliscor by hitting him with Energy Balls, but kept suffering from multiple Fire Fangs. This caused Grotle to evolve into Torterra and soon defeated Gliscor with a mighty Leaf Storm, giving Ursula the victory and the Earth Badge.

About an hour before sunset, Ash and Ursula decided to practice moves with their pokemon. Ursula decided to go with her Flareon for this contest since it had recently learned Flamethrower. Leavanny had also just learned Leaf Storm, which was perfect for the contest since it would be great for the appeals and the combo Ash has been working on. But they both rented rooms for the night at the Pokemon Centre with the help of someone who looked like he was an assistant.

When night feel, Ash, Ursula, Gabite and Pikachu had dinner at the Pokemon Centre cafeteria. Ash and Ursula talked about the adventures they had since Sinnoh. Ursula explained that she had travelled to Hoenn since it was home of contests and she wanted to see if it was as good as Sinnoh. It was a great experience for her and she qualified for the Grand Festival that was held there. She also heard of the Wallace Cup that took place in the Johto region and she competed in it. Dawn was eliminated by Kenny during the second round and Ursula defeated Zoey in the finals, winning the Wallace Cup. When she returned to Hoenn to compete at the Grand Festival, she was beaten by Harley, but Dawn was beaten by Nando in the finals. She then decided to go to Kanto to start anew.

Ash told her about his adventures in Unova. He told her how he first met Zekrom when he arrived in Unova, but he didn't tell her that Pikachu can now use his signature moves. He also explained how he went through Unova's gyms to enter the Unova League and how he met Trip on the first day of his journey. He used to call him a 'boonie', but Ash had gained his respect after Trip left. As well as that, he explained to her how he and his former friends kept on stopping Team Rocket's major plans to take over Unova and how they put the plans of Team Plasma to an end and freeing Reshiram. He even mentioned how he met Meloetta, the Swords of Justice, Kyurem and Victini. Ursula was staring at him in awe as if he was a hot superstar or something.

"Wow, Ash. That's incredible. It seems a little hard to believe, but…wow.", said Ursula while still amazed. Gabite and Pikachu were having a conversation of their own.

"_So, Gabite, what have you been doing with Ursula all this time?", _asked Pikachu.

"_Oh nothing much. Just the usual stepping on Pachirisu's poffins and making him angry and occasionally beating Dawn and her team at contests.", _replied Gabite, _"How about you?"_

"_Oh, just the regular saving the world repetitively, avoiding being captured by Team Rocket and defeating stronger opponents. You know, just what happens regularly.", _said Pikachu.

"_Not bad for someone your size.", _said Gabite with a chuckle while Pikachu blushed.

The foursome stayed for another half hour at the cafeteria before deciding that it was bedtime for everyone. When they passed through the lobby of the Pokemon Centre, Ash suddenly remembered what he wanted to tell Nurse Joy, so he quickly ran up to the front desk.

"Excuse me, Nurse Joy?", sais Ash. Nurse Joy turned to see a very familiar face.

"Why, hello there, Ash. It's good to see you again after all this time. How are you?", asked Nurse Joy.

"I'm doing fine, thank you. I'm surprised that you still remember me.", said Ash.

"Well how could I forget? You saved this Pokemon Centre from Team Rocket's attack five years ago. Now, what did you want to ask me?", asked Nurse Joy.

"I was wondering something. I want to compete in the Kanto League again, but I still have the same badges from five years ago. Do I have to get new badges to re-enter?", asked Ash.

"No, Ash. You can reuse the badges you already acquired if you want to enter the Kanto League again. The same thing applies with ribbons and Grand Festivals. You don't need to earn any new ribbons either. As long as you have the right regional ribbons or badges for the right regional league or festival, you can enter as many times as you want.", explained Nurse Joy.

"Thank you, Nurse joy. That's all I needed to know. Have a good night.", said Ash as he left.

"You're welcome, Ash, and goodnight to you too.", replied Nurse Joy with a smile.

When he rejoined Ursula, he told her about the good news Nurse Joy gave him. She was pleased with hearing this. When they reached upstairs with their belongings, they opened the doors to their separate rooms.

"Well, Ursula, I'll see you tomorrow at the contest. Let's hope one of us wins that Viridian Ribbon.", said Ash to Ursula.

"Goodnight to you too, Ash. No matter what happens, we are still friends.", replied Ursula as she and Gabite disappeared behind the closed door of their room.

When Ash entered his room, he lay down the backpack on the floor and Pikachu jumped on the bed. He then got into his pyjamas while Pikachu was looking away and lay down on the bed, covering himself and Pikachu in the blanket.

"Buddy, tomorrow is our first official contest. Let's win this for good luck for the rest of our journey. And we'll be traveling with Ursula from now on.", said Ash quietly.

"Pika Pikachu.", replied Ash.

Suddenly, Manaphy's pokeball began to shake, wanting to come out. Ash quickly grabbed the pokeball and Manaphy came out with a smile.

"_Papa, can I sleep with you tonight?",_ asked Manaphy.

"Of course you can, Manaphy.", said Ash happily as manaphy snuggled with Ash underneath the covers.

The trio then fell asleep.

xxxxx

The next morning, Ash seemed to be all ready for then contest and was walking beside Ursula towards the Contest Hall. He was dressed in his aura suit and carrying his backpack while Ursula had her classic red and black contest outfit on with her own bag. Pikachu was on his shoulder. They had already gotten breakfast at a small cafè before preparing and were looking confident.

"You look very handsome in that suit, Ash. Where did you get it?", asked Ursula.

"I got it as a gift from Queen Ilene. This was the very same suit that I wore while competing in a tournament that was held there at the Kingdom of Rota two years ago. She gave it to me in case I wanted to do contests.", said Ash.

"That was very nice of her.", said Ursula.

At last they had arrived at the Contest Hall as they entered, there were at least ten co-ordinators, including Dawn, May, Zoey, Harley, Nando and Kenny. May was wearing the same costume she used at the Sinnoh Wallace Cup and Dawn was wearing her the blue dress she bought yesterday. Luckily, they didn't notice them since they were talking with the rest of the traitors. The duo also heard that it wasn't about Ash. Ash and Ursula hurried to the waiting room so they can put their belongings in the lockers and make some last minute preparations.

But there was someone already in the room. "Well, if it isn't Ash.", said a voice.

The duo turned to face the green haired co-ordinator, Drew. He was dressed in a black tuxedo and his Roserade was beside him.

"Good to see you too, Drew. I though I might be seeing you here.", replied Ash.

"So you're going to enter the contest too, huh? And that's a pretty good outfit you got there along with your girlfriend.", said Drew with a snicker.

"Sorry, but she isn't my girlfriend. Her name is Ursula and she is a good friend of mine.", said Ash while he and Ursula were still blushing.

"I'm surprised to see you here without May and your other friends. Want me to go tell them you are here?", asked Drew.

Ash instantly replied. "No. I don't want to see them. They are not my friends anymore, including May."

Drew was surprised. "Why is that? Did something happen between you and them?"

"Yes. Lets just say they said some hurtful things to me and that our friendship is over forever.", said Ash, "and the reason I'm here is to beat them at their own game and win as many Grand Festivals as possible. The same thing goes for pokemon leagues."

"Ok, but can you fully explain to me the whole thing?", asked Drew in concern.

"Not right now. Not while they're here. But I will tell you when the time comes.", replied Ash. Drew nodded at this showing he understood.

Just then, the other co-ordinators came in and that meant that the contest was about to begin. The duo quickly put their bags in lockers and checked themselves to see if they were ready. They both had their pokeballs with capsules on. Ash's had a leaf sticker on it and Ursula's had a flame sticker on it. They both looked confident. They also took notice of May, Dawn and other familiar co-ordinators and turned around quickly. Suddenly, the Tv above them switched on, showing the whole stadium and the audience.

"_Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, ", _announced the MC, Susan on the microphone_, "welcome to the Viridian City Pokemon Contest. We have a lot of co-ordinators for the first contest of the year, that's for sure. And I'm sure all of you are excited to see it happen, so lets introduce our panel of judges. First up we have the Chief of the Pokemon Activities Committee, Mr Contesta."_

"_Hello, everyone. It's wonderful to be here.",_ said Mr. Contesta.

"_Next up we have the President of the Pokemon Fan Club, Mr. Sukizo.", _said Susan.

"_Hello, Viridian City. You're remarkable.", _said Mr. Sukizo.

"_And lastly, we have our Viridian City's very own, Nurse Joy.", _said Susan.

"_Greetings, everyone. I hope to see a good contest today.", _said Nurse Joy cheerfully.

At that moment, Brock zoomed out of the stands and was soon kneeled down in front of Nurse Joy. "Oh, Nurse Joy, you are the image of a beautiful angel and- Aaauugh!"

Croagunk had other ideas as he gave Brock a good Poison Jab right on the bottom, causing him to fall and was soon dragged away. "And Croagunk is the image of a painful danger."

Xxxxx

At the stands, the group of Ash's former friends sweatdropped.

"Why does he even do that?", asked Iris, "he's such a little kid."

"Whenever he sees a pretty girl, he just goes completely nuts for them.", said Max.

xxxxx

"_Well, back to the show everyone, We got the appeal rounds first, so let the contest begin_.", called out Susan.

Everyone cheered out.

"_So first off, we have a co-ordinator from Sinnoh who got into the Top 32 in the Sinnoh Grand Festival and Top 8 in the Hoenn Grand Festival, Ursula.", _announced Susan.

As Ursula steeped out behind the curtains, she got a good round of applause from the audience. She decided to give a wave.

When she reached the battlefield, she began her routine. "Flareon, the stage is yours!", called out Ursula as she tossed the pokeball in the air.

When the pokeball opened, a stream of fire escaped that then disappeared, presenting the fire evolution of Eevee.

"Ok, Flareon, lets start off with a Shadow Ball, straight into the air. Then send a Flamethrower after it.", said Ursula. Flareon fired a dark sphere into the air and then unleashed a Flamethrower after it. The two attacks exploded on impact and they exploded into a shower of small embers and purple sparkles. The crowds gave some 'oooohhs' and 'aaaahhs' at this combo.

"What a great first performance for the year.", said Mr. Contesta.

"Remarkable.", said Mr. Sukizo simply.

"That was a truly a beautiful performance.", said Nurse Joy.

Xxxxx

The appeals then continued. It was revealed what pokemon the co-ordinators Ash knew were using. Dawn used Piplup, May used Munchlax, Drew used Roserade, Harley used Wigglytuff, Zoey used Glameow and Nando used Kricketune.

At last, it was Ash's turn to compete.

"_And folks, we have our last contestant,", _announced Susan, "_he's a new co-ordinator in the contest circuit, but is an accomplished trainer with achievements too numerous to name. Lets all give a big welcome to Pallet Town's pride and joy, Ash Ketchum."_

Upon hearing his name, the crowd went absolutely crazy. As he stepped out behind the curtain in his aura guardian suit, people began to chant his name while some girls began to shout out to him.

Pikachu was perched up on his left shoulder. When Ash reached the stage, Pikachu ran up to the judge's tables so he could watch.

"Ash, we love you!", screamed out one group of girls.

"We love you, Ash!", shouted another.

"_And what a gorgeous costume, if I do say so myself.", _said Susan.

Xxxxx

"Wait, Ash is competing in this too?!", exclaimed Dawn in shock.

"He must be here to beat us as a way of getting payback for what we said about him. And if I'm not mistaken, that's the same suit he wore when he was at the Kingdom of Rota", said May.

"Well, we won't let that happen. We'll beat him in contests to show him he won't surpass us.", said Dawn wit ha sneer.

"Don't be so sure about that, Dee Dee.", said Ursula suddenly from behind.

The two girls turned around to face the crimson-eyed co-ordinator. "What do you mean by that? And don't call me Dee Dee.", asked Dawn with an angry face.

"He's been practicing his new combo move yesterday and he's got this in the bag. Matter of fact, I know he's going to defeat either one of you two if I don't beat you _and _win the ribbon.", said Ursula.

Dawn and May glared at her and then turned back at Ash's performance.

However, back at the stands, Brock was wailing in disappointment. "How come he gets all the girls?!"

"There's no way that loser will beat my sister.", said Max.

"Ick! Why did he have to use a bug-type?", cried Misty in disgust, "They scare me."

xxxxx

"Leavanny, Red Carpet!, "shouted out as he threw the pokeball in the air and it snapped open. A storm of green glowing leaves escaped out of the pokeball and there was a big bundle of them in the centre. As it set itself down, Ash gave out a command.

"Leavanny, use X-Scissor to break free!", said Ash. The bundle suddenly burst apart and its remains showered all over the stadium in a dazzling gleam of green sparkles. In place of the bundle, there was now a beautiful green mantis-like insect, Leavanny.

"Leavanny!", said Leavanny. The crowd gave a loud cheer and clapped out loud then ever before.

"_And Ash goes with his ever-faithful Leavanny. Lets see what kind of surprises they give us today, folks.", _said Susan.

"Leavanny, lets start off by firing two Energy Balls in to the air. And then cut them up by using Leaf Storm.", said Ash.

Leavanny powered up an Energy Ball and shot it from his mouth, but it was followed by another one that shot out of the mouth as well. They both sailed into the air and seemed to float there. Next, Leavanny jumped into the air and activated its Leaf Storm attack. A barrage of sharp glowing leaves rushed towards the two Energy Balls and began to slice them up. When the last two leaves went through their own green spheres, they suddenly exploded. A shower of dry green raindrops fell before the crowd and receiving some cheers. Leavanny landed softly in a kneeling stance before rising. He then re-joined Ash and the duo bowed before the crowd.

"_Spectacular! Looks like Leavanny has shown its true contest style. Lets see what the judges have to say about this wonderful performance.", _said Susan.

"I have to admit this. It was by far the best performance to be appealed by a bug-type that I have ever seen.", said Mr. Contesta.

"Everyone, I think I'll use something else to describe this performance. This was an exceptional performance, no doubt.", said Mr. Sukizo with a small chuckle.

"A very graceful performance, if I ever saw one. Well done, Ash and Leavanny.", said Nurse joy.

"_Well, everyone, that wraps up the appeal rounds. We'll take a five minute break before we can announce the sixteen co-ordinators that will be moving on to the battle rounds. Also, in celebration of Mr. Contesta's 53__rd__ birthday, all co-ordinators and their friends can enjoy a buffet that will be set up in the waiting room after the contest is over and done with.", _announced Susan.

As Ash went back behind the curtain with Pikachu once again on his shoulder, he was greeted by Ursula and her Flareon. "That was a great performance you pulled off there, Ash. Well done."

"Thanks very much, Ursula.", said Ash as they re-entered the waiting room, only to be confronted by May and Dawn.

"You think you can beat us? You weren't even good enough to get through the appeal rounds.", said Dawn with a sneer on her face.

"Yeah, how about you just quit right now and save yourself all the humiliation?", added in Dawn.

They thought he was going to say something to counter back, but he just laughed.

"That's pretty big talk coming from the girl with dandruff in her hair and the noodle addict. If you think I'm going to back out now, you're very mistaken.", said Ash in strong with response, while Ursula burst out laughing.

The two girls' faces suddenly went red in anger and embarrassment. "You can't talk to us like that!", shouted out Dawn, "Who do you think you are talking to two very accomplished co-ordinators like us in such a rude manner?"

This caught the attention of everyone in the room, including the ones of the people Ash knew.

"You? Accomplished co-ordinators? Neither one of you have won a Grand Festival yet, while I have won the Kanto Battle Frontier and the Orange League.", said Ash, "You can't call yourselves 'accomplished' unless you actually won a Grand Festival."

Once again, the two girls got mad and left to be someplace else. But Zoey decided to intervene. "What was all that about, Ash? This is your first official contest and they should be supporting you. What's with them?"

"Zoey, they are not my friends anymore. I'll explain to you what happened when the time comes, but not right now. Ursula here is my new friend, unlike those backstabbers of friends I once had.", said Ash.

This left Zoey with a lot to think about. _Whatever happened between them must have really hurt Ash badly. I think I'll avoid them for the time being until I find out what happened_, thought Zoey.

Suddenly, an announcement was heard on the loudspeakers. "_Ladies and gentlemen, we have our sixteen co-ordinators that will be passing to the battle rounds. If you look on the screen, you'll see them now._", announced Susan.

Ash looked to the TV monitor that was above him and it began display the pictures. There was Zoey, Dawn, Ursula, May, Harley, Drew, Nando, himself and eight other co-ordinators. He was happy to see both himself and Ursula since they can beat May and Dawn. Then the first round match-ups showed. He was going to be facing Harley in the first round, Dawn against Nando, Drew against Zoey, Ursula against May and the other co-ordinators were given shown.

It was his battle with Harley first, so he made his way to one side of the battlefield. Harley took the other end.

"Well, Ash, there can only be one winner out of this battle and I won't be going easy on you.", said Harley with a chuckle and released Wigglytuff

"I don't want you to. Give it all you got, pal.", said Ash with a smile. And released Leavanny.

xxxxx

When the three rounds were over, the two remaining contenders that were facing each other off were Dawn and Ash. Ash had won his battle with Harley, Ursula defeated May, Dawn beat Nando and Zoey beat Drew easily. Four other co-ordinators also won their battles. In the second round, the four known co-ordinators were battling the four unfamiliar co-ordinators and won. In the third round, Ash won his battle against Zoey surprising, but Ursula lost against Dawn. Normally she would say something to get her revenge, but she simply walked off the stage after giving Flaroen words of congratulations.

Now it was the final match between Dawn and Ash. Obviously, Ash had the advantage, but he had another strategy to beat Dawn. The two made their way to the battlefield for the final contest match of the day.

"You're not going to win this, Ash. I know I will.", said Dawn with an evil smile.

"If you keep on talking like a little kid, your mouth might fall off, Dee Dee.", countered Ash.

"Don't call me Dee Dee!", cried out Dawn.

"_Ok. Co-ordinators, lets start the battle!", _called out Susan. Pikachu was sitting at the judge's tables so he can watch the battle.

"Piplup, Spotlight!", said Dawn as she threw the pokeball in the air and it snapped open. Bubbles floated out of it and Piplup came out from amongst the bubble cloud.

"Piplup.", he called out as he landed on the stage.

"Leavanny, Red Carpet!", shouted Ash as he threw Leavanny's pokeball into the air. The same barrage of leaves came out, but this time, Leavanny was not in a bundle.

"Leavanny!", said Leavanny gracefully.

"Piplup, use Drill Peck quickly!", commanded Dawn. Piplup's peck suddenly glowed and grew in length. He then jumped up into the air and began to spin downwards towards Leavanny.

"Leavanny, when Piplup gets close, jump above him and use Energy Ball to throw him off-course into the ground.", said Ash. Leavanny patiently waited a few more seconds before jumping above Piplup and firing a green sphere at him. Piplup couldn't react quickly enough and the impact with Energy Ball slammed him to the ground, taking major damage. But he still got back up.

"Piplup, use Ice Beam to freeze Leavanny. And then hit him with another Drill Peck.", said Dawn. Piplup sent out a beam of ice energy from his mouth.

"Leavanny, counter that Ice Beam with Leaf Storm to send it right back.", said Ash quickly. Leavanny sent the wind and leaves towards and it blew the Ice Beam right back at Piplup freezing him in place.

"Piplup, no!", cried out Dawn. A worried look appeared on her face.

"Leavanny, power up an Energy Ball, but swallow it instead of firing it. After that, use one final Leaf Storm full power!", said Ash.

Leavanny powered up an Energy Ball and swallowed it. His body began to glow in a green aura, showing a boost in his grass-type powers. Then it summoned the biggest Leaf Storm anyone had ever seen. The sharp leaves cut through the ice, shattering it. And since the attack was stronger, the remaining leaves hit Piplup continuously. He then fell on the ground with swirls in his eyes.

"_Piplup is unable to battle. That means that Ash Ketchum and Leavanny win the Viridian City Contest and the Viridian Ribbon_.", called out Susan, "_Ash, could you come to the centre of the stage to claim your prize?"_

The crowd erupted into cheers and whistles. Dawn quickly returned Piplup to his pokeball and walked back to the waiting room.

"You did it, Leavanny! You won your first contest!", said Ash to Leavanny as he hugged his beloved mantis.

"Leavanny Leavan.", said Leavanny happily as he hugged back his trainer. They then both made their way to the centre of the stage where Susan and the judges were waiting for him with the Viridian Ribbon.

"So,Ash, I'll take it this is your first official contest win?", asked Mr. Contesta.

"That's right, sir. I'm planning to take the Kanto Grand Festival by storm and do the very best I can with my pokemon.", replied Ash, smiling.

"Good to see some spirit, young man. So I happily present you with your prize, the Viridian Ribbon.", said Mr. Contesta as he handed the ribbon to Ash.

"Alright, guys!", said Ash to Pikachu and Leavanny, "We just won the Viridian Ribbon!"

"Pi Pikachu!", said Pikachu excitedly.

"Lea Leavanny!", said Leavanny.

Ash then put his new ribbon in the new ribbon case he received yesterday when he got his Kanto Contest Pass. He was proud of Leavanny and he was determined to make it all the way to the Grand Festival. The crowd gave out one final cheer as he walked back through the curtains and into the waiting room where all the other co-ordinators were digging into a buffet of food. Ursula was waiting for him along with Zoey, Drew, Nando and Harley, butthey were in their travaeling clothes.

"Congratulations, Ash. You did well for your first contest.", said Drew as he patted Ash on the back.

"Nice job, hun.", said Harley simply but with a smile.

"For a beginner in contests, your Leavanny isn't so bad in power.", said Zoey as she examined.

"Well done Ash. You did exceptionally well.", praised Nando.

"That was a great performance Ash. For a boy who likes to battle a lot, you put on a great show.", said Ursula.

The gang went on to the party and decided to get some food. For about half an hour, they all talked about what they did on their journeys. Most of them had really good times and achieved great things. Ash talked more to Ursula about his past adventures and experiences. Soon, some of the people left to go their own ways on their journeys.

As Ash and Ursula were about to leave for Pewter City so Ursula can earn her second gym badge, they came face to face… with the traitors.

"How could we lose to you two? You aren't even that good at contests, let alone the Grand Festival?", said Dawn in a harsh tone with May by her side.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's because we have been practicing last night for today and because our pokemon are very dedicated. Unlike you two who think that you will win by simply entering the contest. Honestly, you two are such little kids.", said Ash.

"Hey, that's my line, Ketchum.", said Iris.

"Whatever, Dragon Master Wannabe.", retorted Ash.

Iris was getting really mad, but Dawn intervened before she could say anything. "The next time we meet, we will absolutely destroy you two. Then we'll see who really is going to be the greatest co-ordinator."

"And if you are going to enter, use something other than a bug-type." , said Misty.

Leavanny was not amused at this and walked up to her with a mean looking glare on his face. She shuddered in fear.

"Hey, I want to battle you, Ash, to see how weak you really are.", said Max.

Ash only gave him a quick look before speaking. "You are not worth my time, Max. You look like you just started as a trainer and I'll bet you'll just run all the way home crying with your tail between your legs when you lose."

"How dare you talk to my brother like that, Ash!", screamed out May. The duo only responded by turning their backs on them and walking away.

"DON'T YOU DARE WALK AWAY FROM ME, ASH!", yelled out May as she quickly grabbed a piece of cake from a platter and threw it at the duo, "I'M STILL YELLING AT YOU!"

But Pikachu had other ideas. Without any orders from Ash, his tail quickly turned a metallic colour, showing he is using Iron Tail, and swung it at the cake piece, hitting it back and having it splatter in May's face, making her fall backwards. She sat back up and wiped the cake off her face, revealing a very angered expression.

"That's it! Lets get them.", said Brock as he and the others ran after Ash and Ursula.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!", commanded Ash.

"Pikaaaa Chuu!", shouted out Pikachu as he unleashed his best Thunderbolt at the traitors, cooking them to a crisp. They all fell down on the ground completely burned and Dawn's hair was full of sparkles.

When Ash, Pikachu and Ursula left, they stopped. "So, Ash? Where's the next gym and contest?"

"Well, the closest gym to here is the Pewter City Gym and the next Pokemon Contest is going to be held there too.", said Ash, "We can go there next for our journey. The gym uses rock-type pokemon, so maybe you might need to catch some more pokemon that you can also use for contests. I'll get some too."

"Great idea, Ash.", said Ursula. They soon were at the north side of the city ourskirts when two familiar figures appeared before them. Blaziken and Glaceon. Blaziken was holding two pokeballs.

"It's good to see you two again.", said Ash with a smile.

"Pika Pika.", said Pikachu happily.

"Blaziken.", said Blaziken.

"Gla Glaceon.", said Glaceon as she tackled and hugged Pikachu.

"Ash, do you two know these two pokemon?", asked Ursula.

"Yes, they are good friends of mine. They are actually May's pokemon.", said Ash.

"They are? Then what are they doing here instead of with May?", said Ursula.

"I'll explain to you.", said Ash, "A psychic pokemon I met once named Mewtwo told me yesterday that these two wanted to come with me because they don't agree with what May said about me. They are also friends wit hmy Pikachu and Sceptile."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense. Looks like these two made the right choice staying with you instead of them."

"Yeah.", said Ash before turning back to the two new recruits, "Are you two ready to go? It's going to be a long journey and I promise to make you the very best of your kind."

The two pokemon nodded, but then there was rustle in the bushes nearby. A short yellow figure stepped out. It was a Psyduck.

"A Psyduck? Why does this Psyduck look familiar?", said Ash to himself as he tried to think were he had seen this Psyduck before.

"Psy Psyduck.", it said.

The Psyduck tilted its head to the left a little bit and gave Ash a small spherical object, a pokeball. Suddenly, Ash remembered.

"Wait a minute! You're Misty's Psyduck, aren't you?", said Ash and Psyduck nodded, "Are you willing to join me too?"

Again Psyduck nodded.

"Ursula, this Psyduck belongs to the redhead, Misty. She doesn't really give much attention to him and calls him a nuisance sometimes. I guess he wants to come along too, because maybe he disagreed with the others.", said Ash.

"Well then, lets take him with us. He looks kind of cute.", said Ursula.

"Psyduck, want to come along with us?", asked Ash.

"Psyduck Psyduck!", said Psyduck in delight.

"Well then, you three. Welcome to the team.", said Ash and the pokemon cheered. He then returned them to their pokeballs and put them in his bag.

"Hm, I wonder how Misty and Miss Noodle Addict will react when they find out their pokemon have abandoned them.", asked Ursula to herself.

As they all went into the forest towards Pewter City, little did Ash and Ursula know that their friendship will go beyond them and it will make them more than just friends in the future.

xxxxx

"What do you mean Blaziken and Glaceon are not here, Nurse Joy?! Where have they gone to? Have they been stolen?", asked Nurse Joy in panic.

"And what about Psyduck? Where is he?", asked Misty.

The traitors were now in the Pokemon Centre. They had come to take back their pokemon, but they soon found out that Blaziken, Glaceon and Psyduck weren't there.

"Please calm down, everyone. They were not stolen, I assure you that. Let me just check the security footage from the Recovery Room. You are all welcome to come and look for it yourselves.", said Nurse Joy as she went on her computer and began to access the centre's security systems. The gang crowded around her.

When she finally got to the correct footage, it began to play back to when they disappeared. The footage didn't show any signs of thieves, but what they saw was completely… shocking.

There was Blaziken, Glaceon and Psyduck going out of the door of the Recovery Room. Another piece of footage showed them entering the Pokeball Storage Room, grabbing their respective pokeballs and coming out again. A piece of footage from another camera to the main lobby showed the trio sneak out when no-one was looking and there was nothing more after that.

They couldn't believe what they just seen. Their own pokemon had abandoned them and took their pokeballs with them. May and Misty were crying their eyes out while Dawn and Iris comforted them. First Buneary and Axew left them, but now it was Blaziken, Glaceon and Psyduck? They spent the rest of the day searching for them in Viridian City, but they couldn't find them anywhere. They had no idea that the trio had chosen a new trainer. And that trainer was Ash Ketchum.


End file.
